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MAGISTRATE JUDGE J. AUGUST STRAUS ANNOUNCES THAT HE’S A CANDIDATE FOR SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE

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Today the Vanderburgh County Magistrate Judge J. August officially announces that he is a candidate for the Vanderburgh County Superior Court Judge.

Magistrate Judge J. August J. Straus told the City County-Observer that “Judgeship is a position that he has chosen as his long-term goal. As a lifelong resident of Vanderburgh County, he attended St. Boniface school on the west side of Evansville. I have been blessed in my career, including serving as a Vanderburgh Superior Court Magistrate, in hopes to serve the citizens of Vanderburgh County as a Superior Court Judge one day.”

Other than his time away at college and law school, he has resided on the West Side of Evansville. He spent the last 8 years as a single father to his beautiful daughter, Shayleigh, age 12.

Magistrate Judge J. August Straus attended Westside Catholic Consolidated Schools (Sacred Heart/St. Agnes/St. Boniface) and graduated from Mater Dei High School. After high school, he briefly attended Hanover College before transferring to Arizona State University where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree with the highest honors.  He attended the University of Memphis because of the cultural diversity of the school and the city. Shortly after receiving his Juris Doctor, he returned home due to the declining health of his father (who later passed in 2001) to be of assistance to both my mother and my sibling.

Upon his return to Evansville, he was hired at Fine & Hatfield. They allowed him to begin working for the Vanderburgh County Prosecutors Office in order to sharpen his trial skills. He spent approximately one year at the Prosecutors Office, then returned to Fine & Hatfield with more experience in the courtroom and a better understanding of the criminal area of the law to grow his; practice.

Magistrate Judge J. August told the CCO “that his career took a turn for the best when he was was hired by Johnson Carroll Griffith & D’Amour. Upon accepting this position, he said “that he was mentored by some of the finest and most respected attorneys in the State of Indiana in all areas of law?. He also said “he had the opportunity to learn Estate and Corporate law from Brian Carroll; Personal Injury, Probate, Mediation & Family law from Edward Johnson; Family and Criminal law from (former law partner) Superior Court Judge Richard D’Amour; and Workers Compensation, Social Security Disability and Jury trial practice from the late Charlie Griffith. With this opportunity, he was able to grow his own General Practice in multiple areas of the law and become a well-rounded attorney”?

Along with his practice, he became very involved with the Evansville Bar Association and held numerous positions over the years, as demonstrated on his extensive resume. In addition, he became involved in Judges’ campaigns in Vanderburgh County, working on Judge Lloyd’s, Neumeier’s and Bower’s re-election campaigns and Judge D’Amour and Kiely’s campaigns.

In 2012, Magistrate Judge’s Straus legal career took another remarkable turn when he was appointed to the bench as a Magistrate Judge by the seven Vanderburgh Superior Court Judges. During the past 8 years, he regularly handled Criminal Misdemeanor, Protective Orders, Small Claims and General Civil cases and of course Family law cases, including but not limited to Divorce, Post-Divorce, Paternities, Adoptions, and Guardianships. In addition, for a 2 year period, he worked directly with Judge Trockman in Treatment Court and his Level 5/6 Felony Court and Judge Pigman in his Felony Court. He also handled all aspects of those courts, including but not limited to Arraignments, Initial Hearings, Progress Hearings, Sentences, Jury Trials, and Treatment Court team meetings and court sessions.

Finally, Magistrate Judge August J. Straus told the City-County Observer after 20 years in practice, he feels that he’s perfectly suited to fill the position of Superior Court Judge being vacated by Judge Tornatta.

FOOTNOTE: The Vanderburgh Superior Court’s are set up in such a way that two of the Judges (Trockman and Pigman) handle Criminal matters, one judge is assigned all Probate, CHINS, Delinquency, Guardianships, and Adoptions (Niemeier) and the remaining four Judges handle all Family Law (Divorces and Paternities) and Civil Law. Judge Tornatta’s position is one of these four Judges.

LINK OF 56 HOMES OWNED BY HOPE OF EVANSVILLE

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LINK OF 56 HOMES OWNED BY HOPE OF EVANSVILLE

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THIS WEEK AT USI: Angela Davis, Celebrated Scholar And Activist, Comes To Campus For Mandela Day Keynote Address

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Event starts at 2 p.m.; Keynote starts at 6 p.m. Wednesday, February 5

Court of Appeals of Indiana to hold arguments on USI campus
The Court of Appeals of Indiana will hear oral arguments in the case of Harold Warren vs. State of Indiana on the University of Southern Indiana campus at 11 a.m. Monday, February 3. The hearing will take place in Carter Hall in University Center West and is free and open to the public. Read More

The event starts at 2 p.m.; Keynote starts at 6 p.m. Wednesday, February 5

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Angela Davis to deliver 2020 Nelson Mandela Social Justice Day keynote at USI
The University of Southern Indiana will host Dr. Angela Davis, a distinguished professor, activist and social justice advocate, as the keynote speaker for its 2020 Nelson Mandela Social Justice Day at 6 p.m. Wednesday, February 5 in Carter Hall. Davis’ presentation, “Democracy and Civic Engagement,” will be free and open to the public as space allows. An activism fair featuring USI and community organizations will be held in the Carter Hall concourse beginning at 2 p.m. prior to the keynote address. Read More

 

Exhibit open through Wednesday, February 12

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“Art and Life” exhibition recognizes careers, the collaboration of Waters, Graham

The University of Southern Indiana McCutchan Art Center/Pace Galleries will feature Art and Life: The Similar Sensibilities of Katie Waters and Matthew Graham through Wednesday, February 12. A reception for the artists will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, January 26. Light refreshments will be served and the public is cordially invited to attend.  Read More

STUDENT EVENTS

A collection of events on campus and in the community sponsored by USI student organizations can be found on the USI events calendar by clicking here.

SAVE THE DATE

Thursday, February 13 – Sunday, February 16

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USI Theatre Continues Season with Brighton Beach Memoirs

University of Southern Indiana Theatre will continue its 2019-20 season with the comedy Brighton Beach Memoirs, written by Neil Simon and directed by Elliot Wasserman. The production runs from February 13-16 in the USI Performance Center located in UC east on USI’s campus. Tickets are $2 for USI students, $10 for USI employees, $4 for non-USI students (student ID required), $10 seniors (60+), and $12 for adults. Tickets are FREE to USI students with ID one hour before the show begins based on availability.  Shows start at 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. for the Sunday matinee. Read More

 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

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Celestial milestone for USI’s satellite project

The UNITE CubeSat, a satellite designed, built and maintained entirely by undergraduate students at the University of Southern Indiana, marked one year in orbit on Friday, January 31. In that time, the satellite, deployed from the International Space Station, has remained operational and, despite unforeseen changes to its timeline, on track to complete its scientific mission

Commentary: Can We Talk About Ending Taxpayer-Funded Primaries?

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IndyPoltics.Org

Recently Republican State Sen. Jim Buck of Kokomo introduced legislation that would eliminate the primary for the U.S. Senate race here in Indiana and instead have the political parties pick their candidates at a nominating convention.

Buck got a lot of pushback as some folks thought it was undemocratic.  My problem with the legislation was that it didn’t go far enough.

We should eliminate all taxpayer-funded primaries.

On Feb. 7, candidates will have to file to run in either the Democratic or Republican primary to get their party’s nomination for one office or another. Libertarians have nominating conventions. By my last count as of Jan. 24, there were less than a dozen contested state House and Senate races between the Republicans and Democrats. More than 30 Democrat House races and 70 Republican seats had no contest.

When you look at the data and the filings, you can’t help but ask the bigger question: What is the point of a primary? If the point is for Democrats and Republicans to pick their candidates for the general election, why should the general public pick up the tab? Why shouldn’t the parties pay for their own operations?

Indiana’s primaries are closed, which means only declared Republicans and Democrats are supposed to vote in them. Independent voters, a growing segment of the population, aren’t invited to the party.

That makes it silly to spend taxpayers’ resources for a handful of politicos to nominate candidates.

As any county clerk will tell you, running an election is complicated. You need election judges, inspectors and poll workers for each precinct or voting center. You have to find space, ballots have to be printed, and you need to procure machines to count the ballots. That is a lot of work so that 11 to 12 percent of registered voters can choose a candidate.

The Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute once estimated that hundreds of thousands of dollars could be saved if Indiana switched to vote centers for elections instead of precincts. Just imagine how much more could be saved if we didn’t have to have a primary.

Instead of a political primary, why not have local conventions? They would operate just like state and national conventions where the parties and their delegates select candidates to present to the voters. We already do this in Indiana with the secretary of state, treasurer, auditor and attorney general. The Democrats, Republicans, and Libertarians have conventions, they nominate candidates for statewide offices and then present them to voters for approval in November.

One of the criticisms of eliminating the primary system is that party bosses and insiders would pick candidates instead of rank-and-file party members. That is a risk, but need I remind you that the rank and file have a funny way of making their voices heard.  Take most recently last year’s special caucus to replace former Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry. Although Indy Mayor Joe Hogsett was pushing his legal aide Tim Moriarty, Deputy Prosecutor Ryan Mears won the hearts and more importantly the votes of the precinct committeemen.

As long as primaries remain closed and voters have few choices, there’s no reason taxpayers should open their wallets and foot the bill to do for political parties what they should do for themselves.

Or at the very least, if we can’t eliminate primaries, then we should make them open. Have all candidates run, everyone can vote, regardless of party and whoever gets 60 percent of the vote wins outright. Otherwise, we have a runoff of the top two in the general election.  And while we’re at it we can shorten the election season.   Who really needs six months to run in a campaign that really should only be six weeks? But that’s another discussion for another time.

FOOTNOTE: Abdul is an attorney and the editor and publisher of IndyPoltics.Org. He is also a frequent contributor to numerous Indiana media outlets. He can be reached at abdul@indypolitics.org.

 

AG Curtis Hill Asks U.S. Supreme Court To Protect FTC’s Authority To Obtain Consumer Restitution

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News Release

AG Curtis Hill asks U.S. Supreme Court to protect FTC’s authority to obtain consumer restitution

Attorney General Curtis Hill on Friday announced an amicus brief supporting the Federal Trade Commission’s ability to seek restitution for consumers when enforcing provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act.

The U.S. Supreme Court should consider and reverse a decision by the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals holding that the FTC lacks authority to obtain restitution when providing redress to victims of fraud or deceptive business practices, Attorney General Hill said.

“Without the ability to seek restitution, the FTC would be seriously hampered in its ability to protect consumers,” Attorney General Hill said. “Further, this kind of restriction on the FTC’s enforcement powers would weaken Indiana’s efforts to fight unfair and deceptive business practices through collaboration with our federal partners.”

States rely on partnerships with federal regulators such as the FTC to protect millions of Americans. In order to make victims of fraud whole and to adequately deter further wrongdoing, regulators typically seek injunctive relief that requires defendants to cease illegal conduct and return illegal profits to consumers. While Attorney General Hill and attorneys general around the country obtain consumer restitution through their own enforcement actions, states also benefit from the FTC’s independent authority to investigate and address violations of federal law.

The amicus brief filed Friday is signed by a bipartisan group of 24 attorneys general. The coalition points out that the 7th Circuit’s decision upends decades of precedent and will result in defendants attempting to “forum shop.” In fact, the attorney’s general state in the brief, defendants have already begun to attempt to transfer cases to the 7th Circuit in order to take advantage of the decision. As a result, the coalition claims the decision has created confusion where none previously existed.

In 2018 alone, the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection issued more than $122 million in refunds to consumers throughout the country.

                                     FOOTNOTE: The amicus brief is attached.

 

Gov. Holcomb Joins Jake Steinfeld In Awarding Fitness Centers To Indiana Schools

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Governor Eric J. Holcomb and fitness icon Jake Steinfeld announced nominations are now open for Indiana schools to apply for a $100,000 DON’T QUIT!® fitness center from the National Foundation for Governors’ Fitness Councils (NFGFC).

“We are determined to improve the health of Hoosiers and a great way to do this is to get our kids excited about fitness,” Gov. Holcomb said. “I am excited that Jake decided he wanted to bring the DON’T QUIT! Campaign to Indiana, because it will empower more kids to develop healthy habits that they’ll take with them throughout life.”

The NFGFC seeks to encourage and reward innovation in the field of youth fitness by awarding fitness centers to schools that use new and unique methods to promote student physical activity and wellness. Three Indiana elementary or middle schools will each receive a $100,000 state-of-the-art fitness center from the NFGFC.

“Childhood obesity is a serious problem that can follow a child into adulthood. I’ve declared war on this preventable disease and it’s inspiring to see elected leaders like Governor Eric Holcomb immediately jump on board to join the battle and welcome us into the great state of Indiana. Every governor we’ve partnered with recognizes that obesity is neither a Democratic nor Republican issue, it’s a kids’ issue and all have vowed to do everything possible to help,” said Steinfeld, chairman of the NFGFC.  “Children are our most precious resource and by providing them with a strong foundation in health and fitness, we can feel confident that they’ll excel beyond their wildest dreams.”

The NFGFC envisions a nation that—through innovation and a “DON’T QUIT!” attitude—boasts the fittest kids in the world. DON’T QUIT! Fitness Centers have been built in 32 states and Washington, DC. In 2020, NFGFC will gift fitness centers to four more states – Indiana, Alabama, Kentucky and Oklahoma – with a goal of building in all 50 states in the coming years.

Each fitness center is financed through public/private partnerships with companies like The Coca-Cola Company, Anthem Foundation, Wheels Up and Nike, and does not rely on taxpayer dollars or state funding. TuffStuff Fitness International provides all the fitness equipment, which is manufactured in the United States.

School nominations will be accepted until Friday, March 20. For more information about the NFGFC or to download a nomination form, visit www.natgovfit.org.

 

BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS MEETING

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BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING AGENDA

KEVIN WINTERNHEIMER CHAMBERS

ROOM 301, CIVIC CENTER COMPLEX on WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2020 at 12:00 NOON

 AGENDA

 CALL TO ORDER

MEETING MEMORANDUM   JANUARY 22, 2020

CONSENT AGENDA

             a. Request Re: Approve and Execute Park Use Permit with Franklin Street Events Association for the Franklin Street Bazaar.- Holtz

             b. Request Re: Approve and Execute Land Use Agreement with Memorial High School Lacrosse Team at Wesselman’s Field #1.- Holtz

             c. Request Re: Approve and Execute Extension Agreement with Priority One Fire & Safety, LL  for various Park Facilities. – Holtz

             d. Request Re: Approve and Execute Extension Agreement with T.S.F Co.,Inc. for monthly portable restrooms at various Park Facilities. – Holtz

             e. Request Re: Approve and Execute Extension Agreement with A-1 Cleaning Services for cleaning service of shelters and restrooms, along with opening and locking restrooms for Park hours.

                                                                                                                                                     OLD BUSINESS 

                                                                                                                                                     NEW BUSINESS    Request Re: Any Other Business the Board Wishes to Consider and Public Comment

REPORTS

            Holly Schneider, Program Director

            Brian Holtz, Executive Director

ACCEPTANCE OF PAYROLL AND VENDOR CLAIMS

 ADJOURN

Marriage Licenses Issued For Vanderburgh County

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Marriage Licenses Issued For Vanderburgh County

Marriage Licenses Issued

“Right Jab And Middle Jab And Left Jab” February 4, 2020

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“Right Jab And Middle Jab And Left Jab” February 4, 2020

“Right Jab And Middle Jab And Left Jab” was created because we have a couple of commenters that post on a daily basis either in our “IS IT TRUE” or “Readers Forum” columns concerning National or International issues.
The majority of our “IS IT TRUE” columns are about local or state issues, so we have decided to give our more opinionated readers exclusive access to our newly created “LEFT JAB and Middle Jab and RIGHT JAB”  column. They now have this post to exclusively discuss national or world issues that they feel passionate about.
We shall be posting the “LEFT JAB” AND “MIDDLE JAB” AND “RIGHT JAB” several times a week.  Oh, “LEFT JAB” is a liberal view, “MIDDLE JAB” is the libertarian view and the “RIGHT JAB is representative of the more conservative views. Also, any reader who would like to react to the written comments in this column is free to do so.

ADOPT A PET

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Stanton is a male gray tabby. He was adopted in 2017 as a kitten, then returned for “moving.” He’s a big substantial cat and will likely take up your whole lap during Netflix snuggle time! Stanton’s adoption fee is only $40 and includes his neuter, microchip, vaccines, and more. Contact Vanderburgh Humane at (812) 426-2563 for adoption details!

 

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