https://www.vanderburghsheriff.com/jail-recent-booking-records.aspx
“IS IT TRUE” OCTOBER 30, 2019
We hope that today’s “IS IT TRUEâ€Â will provoke honest and open dialogue concerning issues that we, as responsible citizens of this community, need to address in a rational and responsible way?
IS IT TRUE that the 10th annual City-County Observer “Community Achievement Awards” held at Tropicana last Friday drew a record crowd of attendees? Â …that the room was filled to capacity?…since this is a non-national-election year it is entirely possible that someone may be elected to the Evansville City Council by several hundred votes?…apathy is always apparent when the main event is essentially uncontested as the Evansville Mayoral election is this year?…we are told because the CCO readers vote in large numbers they may have enough impact to help elect candidates that care about ‘Good Public Policy”?
IS IT TRUE that the Republican newsletter posted the following statement concerning a Straight Ticket Voting Reminder?” …the post stated:Â “Remember when marking your ballot that voting a straight Republican ticket does not select Republican candidates for City Council At-Large. You must make your individual selections from the list the candidates. Also remember that although you can vote for up to 3 candidates on the At-Large ballot, it is not required that you make 3Â selections?” Â …this is a very interesting post?
IS IT TRUE that the majority of City Council candidates are receiving political endorsements almost every day?  …many political endorsements are from well known Federal, State and local political personalities from both parties?  …one political endorsement that really got our attention was when well known Republican and a highly respected community leader and CEO Of United Companies Ron Romain endorsed 1st Ward City Council candidate Ben Trockman (D)?
IS IT TRUEÂ yesterday we were approached by several locally financially well-heeled movers and shakers to do a printed edition of a Sunday paper? …all we can say is that this proposal is very interesting? Â …when the City-County Observer first started publishing we produced a printed edition once a week for a couple of years and always made an honorable profit?
IS IT TRUEÂ earlier this week local attorney Pat Shoulders agreed with the City-County Observer that the political make-up of the Evansville City Council will still be controlled by the Democratic party?
IS IT TRUE that the Honorable Vanderburgh County Superior Court Judge Robert J. Pigman is doing an outstanding job for the citizens of Vanderburgh County?
IS IT TRUEÂ that our elected and appointed officials are the stewards of the public trust and should start acting like it? Â …are still waiting for at least one candidate running for the Evansville City Council to ask how much have the taxpayers paid to subsidize the financial looses of the Evansville Thunderbolts hockey team?
IS IT TRUE that the Vanderburgh County Commissioner recently voted for a “Fully Funded Anthem Policy” for 479 County employees who are non-Teamsters” Â …posted below are the reasons why they voted to fully fund the “Anthem Policy?”
IS IT TRUE that it is capped at 10.4 million dollars in cost to the taxpayer for 2020?
IS IT TRUE that It is “Fully Funded” means that the taxpayer is protected from fluctuations in the ever-changing Health Care Insurance market for the year 2020?
IS IT TRUE that the increase year over year from 2019 to 2020 is 5% for the cost of this policy. The yearly average increase in the industry is 12% to 15%?
IS IT TRUE that “Self-funded” policies are risks that County Commissioners aren’t willing to take on behalf of the taxpayer or the employees?
IS IT TRUE that County Commissioner Jeff Hatfield states that “Team-Care” through the local Teamsters only cost the taxpayer $18.640.34 per employee? Â …he predicts that privately funded insurance will cost in excess of $19,800.00Â per employee?
IS IT TRUEÂ County Commissioner Hatfield feel If Vanderburgh County truly wants to save money conventional wisdom suggests that all county employees become members of the local Teamsters?
IS IT TRUE later this week we will be announcing our guest speaker for our monthly “Working Outside The Box” series? …our that guest speaker is a highly respected member of our community? …that he hails from a well known iconic family of our community? Â …that the CEO of “Young And Established” will be telling our group about the services his organization is providing for the less than fortunate of our community?
Today’s “Readers Poll” question is: If the election was held today for City Council 5TH Ward who would you vote for?
FOOTNOTES: Please take time and read our articles entitled “STATEHOUSE Files, Law Enforcement,  Readers Poll, Birthdays, Hot Jobs, Local Sports, High School News, and Obituary.
If you would like to advertise on the CCO please contact us at
City-CountyObserver@live.com.
City-County Observer Comment Policy. Be kind to people. No personal attacks or harassment will not be tolerated and shall be removed from our site.
Any comments posted in this column do not represent the views or opinions of the City-County Observer or our advertisers.
VANDERBURGH COUNTY COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA
AGENDA Of The VANDERBURGH COUNTY COUNCIL
For OCTOBER 30, 2019 PERSONNEL AND FINANCE MEETING
OPENING OF MEETING
- ATTENDANCE ROLL CALL
- PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
- INVOCATION
- APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
- (A) Â County Council October 2, 2019
- (B) Â Budget Adoption October 2, 2019
- PERSONNEL REQUESTS:
(A) Assessor
ROOM 301
- Request to fill vacancy for Information Technology/GIS Supervisor 10001090-109118
- Request to fill vacancy for Real Estate Deputy Residential II 10001090-109144
- Request to fill vacancy for Real Estate Deputy Residential II 10001090-109153
- (B) Â Health Department
- Request to fill vacancy for Administrative Aide 11590000-115944
- Request to fill vacancies for two Part time Administrative Aides 11590000-199000
- (C) Â Health Department- WIC
- Request to fill vacancy for part-time Health Educator 84030000-199000
- Request to fill vacancy for Health Educator 84030000-840311
- Request to fill vacancy for Administrative Aide 84030000-840321
- APPROPRIATION ORDINANCE:
- (A) Â Tourism Capital Improvement
- (B) Â Convention Center Operating
- TRANSFERS:
- (A) Â Clerk
- (B) Â Surveyor
- (C) Â Area Plan Commission
- (D) Â Jail
- (E) Â Superior Court (2)
- REPEAL:
- OLD BUSINESS: None
- NEW BUSINESS:
(A) Personnel Administration Committee
(C) General Fund Reserve (D) COIT – Superior Court
(F) Cumulative Bridge (3) (G) Health Department
(H) Local Roads and Streets (I) Highway (2)
(J) Circuit Court – Supplemental Adult Probation
(1) Assessor
(a) Supervisor Real Estate Department 10001090-109137 (b) Supervisor Commercial Department 10001090-109151 (c) Supervisor Residential Department 10001090-109160
(2) Burdette Park
(a) Manager 10001450-145111
(B) Jail Expansion Presentation
- AMENDMENTS TO SALARY ORDINANCE (A) County Assessor
(B) Health Department
(C) Health Department/WIC - PUBLIC COMMENT
- REMINDER NEXT MEETING DATE/TIME: NOVEMBER 6, 2019 8:30 A.M. ROOM 301NEXT PERSONNEL AND FINANCE MEETING NOVEMBER 27, 2019 3:30 P.M. ROOM 301
15. ADJOURNMENT
Red denotes Personnel and Finance meeting
Blue denotes County Council meeting
Indiana Businesses Adapt To Lack Of Skilled Job Applicants, Survey Shows
Indiana Businesses Adapt To Lack Of Skilled Job Applicants, Survey Shows
By Brandon Barger
TheStatehouseFile.com
INDIANAPOLIS—Businesses across the state are hiring under-qualified people or reassigning work duties to make up for the lack of applicants for their open jobs, the Indiana Chamber of Commerce has reported.
Those are the strategies businesses are using to adapt to the ongoing shortage of qualified applicants, the chamber reported as it released its 12th annual employer workforce survey. The survey had responses from more than 1,000 businesses in 89 of the state’s 92 counties.
“We started it (the survey) because back then, and even more so now, workforce issues are increasingly important and challenging for employers so we wanted to get their opinions that would help us guide our programming,†said Kevin Brinegar, president, and CEO of the Indiana Chamber.
Of the companies that responded to the survey, 49% reported that they had jobs that had been left unfilled. Â This is down from a year ago when it was at 51% and was the number one challenge for companies.
However, Brinegar said that there were other factors that concerned the businesses that responded to the survey.
“We speculate that other things, like trade, tariffs, and foreign competition were the more important issues,†Brinegar said.
The chamber is also reporting that there is a decrease in companies reporting workforce or talent needs as a primary challenge. Last year, 33% of the responding companies reported that as a challenge compared to 12% this year.
Brinegar said that it was interesting to see the correlation between companies who didn’t report problems with talent needs and companies who did report that challenge.
Brinegar said that the businesses that didn’t report issues meeting their talent needs to be tended to be plugged into post-secondary educations for training and education, but “the ones who said that they were still challenged in finding the people that they need also responded that they didn’t use these programs.â€
A quarter of the companies said they are assigning duties and responsibilities internally compared to 18% a year ago and 23% are hiring underqualified applicants compared to only 11% two years earlier. Nearly three-quarters said they are open to hiring people with fewer skills and education and then train them on the job.
The survey also showed that 44% of companies are starting to look at skills other than education level when evaluating job applicants.
“I’m seeing resumes of college students, or recent college graduates who during their time in college have had not one but multiple internships or work and learn experiences,†Brinegar said.
The survey also found that employers cite bigger challenges with attracting employees than training or keeping them. Forty percent of employers believe applicants are not attracted to the community where the companies are located, which Brinegar said: “underscores the quality of the place.â€
Brinegar says that the future involves more automation of the lower, entry-level jobs which means “higher and higher demand for greater skills.â€
The full survey results are available here.
FOOTNOTE: Brandon Barger is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalists.
September Revenues Significantly Higher Than Expected
September Revenues Significantly Higher Than Expected
By Brynna Sentel
TheStatehouseFile.com
INDIANAPOLIS—The Indiana State Budget Agency has reported that in September the state took in $1.7 billion, or an increase of 6.3% year-over-year.
Collections from sales and use, individual income and corporate taxes plus other revenue sources such as insurance and interest propelled the general fund above estimates. The revenues are also higher compared to the prior month and year-over-year, the agency reported.
General fund revenue is $91.1 million, or 5.6%, higher than estimated in the April 17 revised revenue forecast.
The year-to-date general fund collections totaled $3.9 billion, which is $151.7 million or 4% above the revised revenue forecast, and $113.2 million, or 2.9% above collections through the same period in the prior fiscal year.
The agency reported that September is a high revenue activity month but most revenue collections are projected to come in between the months of December and June.
Although revenue from gasoline tax came in slightly below estimates, sales tax collections totaled $710.6 million, which is $33.9 million or 5% above the forecast and $52.7 million, or 8%, more than September last year.
Sales tax collections year-to-date totaled about $2.1 billion, which is $55.3 million or 2.7% above the estimate, and $81 million, or 4.1% above collections through the same period in the prior fiscal year.
Individual income tax revenue totaled $683.7 million, which is $40.7 million, 6.3% above estimated, and $55.2 million, or 8.8% higher than this time last year.
Year-to-date individual tax collections totaled $1.4 billion, which is $52.9 million or 3.8% above the estimate and $8.5 million, or 0.6% above collections through the same period in the prior fiscal year.
Corporate tax collections totaled $186.8 million. Although this was $17.2 million or 8.4% below revenue in September 2018, it was still $0.9 million, or 0.5% above the estimate.
Year-to-date corporate tax collections totaled $196.7 million, which is $24.1 million or 1% above the estimate and $15 million, or 8.3% above collections through the same period in the prior fiscal year.
Brynna Sentel is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.
HOT JOBS IN EVANSVILLE
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Eagles Look To Finish Strong At Home​​​​​​​
The University of Southern Indiana men’s soccer team hope to finish strong when it wraps ups up the 2019 regular season at home this weekend. The Screaming Eagles start the regular season-ending homestand with Maryville University Friday night at 7:30 p.m. and conclude it with Missouri University of Science and Technology Sunday at 2:30 p.m. for Senior Day.
The eight USI seniors – defender Markus Poulson; midfielder Sean Rickey; defender Jonathan Faas; defender Drew Albert; forward Eric Ramirez; defender Adam Newman; midfielder Adam Becker; and midfielder Morgan Kelly –  will be honored prior to the start of the game Sunday. Match coverage can be found on GoUSIEagles.com.
Week 9 Eagle Notes:Â
USI surpass .500 mark: The Screaming Eagles surpassed the .500 for the first time this season after sweeping both ends of their road trip, defeating Truman State University, 4-1, and Quincy University, 2-1. USI senior defender Drew Albert led the Eagles with a pair of goals, including the game-winner at Quincy, and senior midfielder Sean Rickey, who had a goal, including the game-winner at Truman State, and two assists, during the road trip
Season-best winning streak:Â USI has won four-straight games, marking the best winning streak of the season. The Eagles also have won seven of its last 10 matches, going 7-2-1.
In the GLVC:Â The Eagles start this week’s action tied for fifth in the GLVC standings with Lindenwood University, 1.5 games behind fourth-place University of Indianapolis. USI also leads seventh-place Drury University (8-6-2, 6-5-2 GLVC) by one game. The top eight teams qualify for the GLVC Tournament with the top four earning the right to host a first round match.
Season leaders: USI is led in scoring by senior midfielder Sean Rickey with 16 points on five goals and a team-best six assists, while senior forward Eric Ramirez has 14 points on five goals and four assists.
Career scoring leaders: USI senior midfielder Sean Rickey and senior forward Eric Ramirez are climbing up the Eagles’ all-time leader boards. Ramirez tied Chris King (1987-90) for fifth all-time with 29 goals and is ninth all-time with 69 points. Rickey is tied for sixth all-time with Matt Settles (2000-03) in assists (20) and all-time in points (74), while ranking ninth in goals scored (27).
Between the posts: Junior goalkeeper Justin Faas has a 0.86 goals against average this fall. He has a 7-1-3 record overall and four shutouts.
The Saints in 2019:Â The Saints of Maryville are 12-2-2 overall and 9-2-2 in the GLVC after going 1-0-1 in last week’s road swing. They tied Bellarmine University on the road, 1-1, in double-overtime before defeating the University of Indianapolis, 1-0. The Saints are 2-0-2 in their last four games
USI versus Maryville: USI leads the all-time series with Maryville, 9-2-1, after a 2-1 victory last year Strassweg Field on goals by senior midfielder Justin Brooks and senior defender Drew Albert. Overall, the Eagles are 8-1-1 against the Saints since 2010.
The Miners in 2019:Â The Miners of Missouri S&T, who visit McKendree University Friday before coming to play the Eagles Sunday, are 5-8-2 overall and 4-7-2 in the GLVC. The Miners have lost their last three matches, two in overtime.
USI versus Miners: The Eagles trail the all-time series with Missouri S&T, 15-11-3, after posting a 2-0 win last fall in Rolla, Missouri, on goals by senior midfielder Sean Rickey. USI also posted a win over the Miners in 2017 that broke a nine-match winless streak.
Santoro begins his 11th year: USI Head Coach Mat Santoro has a 95-79-21 overall record at the helm. Santoro has guided the Eagles to a pair of NCAA II Tournament appearances; the 2018 GLVC regular season crown, and five GLVC Tournament appearances during his tenure.
AG Curtis Hill to host 10th Annual Drug Abuse Symposium
Attorney General Curtis Hill will host the 10th Annual Drug Abuse Symposium in Noblesville.
WHO: Keynote speakers are author/journalist Alex Berenson; Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush; Dr. Wilson Compton of the National Institute on Drug Abuse; and former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi. Breakout sessions include dozens of different organizations and individuals with expertise in various topics related to drug abuse.
WHAT: 10th Annual Drug Abuse Symposium
WHERE: Embassy Suites Noblesville, 13700 Conference Center Drive, South Dr., Noblesville, IN 46060
WHEN: 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., October 29-30, 2019.
UE Launches Early Start Education Program For High School Juniors And Seniors
The University of Evansville has launched an Early Start Education Program that will enable high school juniors and seniors to earn college credit. Prior to their graduation from high school, students in the program will be able to complete up to five required courses for an education degree at UE and receive the Early Start Education Program Certificate.
Coursework will include classes in education, psychology, and the health sciences. Students who decide not to pursue an education degree after enrolling at UE can choose another major while still retaining the credits. Several of these courses are required for other majors at UE.
“The program has many benefits to participating students,” said Sharon Gieselmann, chair of UE’s School of Education. “It will reduce heavy class loads, allow students in the program to potentially complete their education degree at UE in just three and a half years, and enable study abroad.”
Beginning in the Spring of 2020, classes will be available at $125 per credit hour. All classes are offered in a convenient online format, making it easy for high school students to get an early start on their college education.
“This is a smart investment for students and their families,” said Gieselman.
UE also has a number of other programs in place to address the need for well-prepared, motivated professional teachers. These programs include the Teaching Fellows Scholarship, Transition to Teaching licensure program, Accelerated Elementary Education Degree program, Ivy Tech articulation agreement, and reduced tuition for transfer students in education.
For more information, contact the School of Education at education@evansville.edu or by phone at 812-488-2368.