Senators Braun and Reverend Warnock Lead Bipartisan Bill to Train More Hoosiers for Good-Paying Jobs
The Pathways to Prosperity Act would take critical steps to expand federal resources available to community and technical colleges to support partnerships between colleges and employers
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Mike Braun and Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) introduced the Pathways to Prosperity Act. This bill is designed to strengthen America’s workforce development pipeline between community/technical colleges and good-paying jobs from local employers.
The bipartisan Pathways to Prosperity Act expands the existing Strengthening Community Colleges Grant Program. This federal program provides competitive grants to community/technical colleges to support partnerships with employers. These partnerships align workforce development programs in community/technical colleges to local industry needs. The idea is to establish, improve, or expand high-quality workforce development programs to get more Hoosiers into jobs that require skills training.
Senator Braun also authored the JOBS Act with Senator Tim Kaine which would make it possible to use Pell Grants for career and technical education programs.
“There are many good-paying jobs out there that go unfilled because of a lack of skills and career/technical training,” said Senator Mike Braun. “This bill will help close the gap and give more Hoosiers access to skills training programs that will put them on the path to a better career and higher pay for their families.”
“I tell business leaders all the time, come to Georgia; Georgia is open for business. As these new, good-paying jobs come to the Peach State, it’s important that these local jobs are filled locally. That means we need a workforce that’s trained to step into these roles,” said Senator Reverend Warnock. “That’s why I’ve introduced new bipartisan legislation to strengthen our workforce development pipeline by giving technical colleges federal resources to collaborate with local industry partners to train Georgians up for the jobs coming to our state. This legislation is a win for workers who will have access to better-paying jobs; a win for businesses that will be able to find more of the workers they need where and when they need them; a win for our community and technical colleges to help keep their classrooms full; and a major win for our state’s economy that will benefit from thriving businesses and a world-class, homegrown workforce.”
Specifically, the Pathways to Prosperity Act of 2024 would provide funding to:
- Set up, enhance, or broaden the quality of educational or career training initiatives at community colleges.
- Enhance opportunities for individuals to attain nationally or regionally recognized postsecondary credentials in high-skill, high-wage, or in-demand industry sectors or occupations.
- Develop or scale up career training, career pathways, or work-based learning options like apprenticeships.
- Assist individuals with barriers to employment with accessing programs.
- Provide support services to help participants complete education and training.
Bill text available here.
Kelley Coures Spotlight Presentation At Willard Library Today
Local Author Spotlight: Kelley Coures Presents Book Today At Willard Library
JUNE 22, 20 24
Join us for an enlightening Local Author Spotlight presentation featuring Kelley Coures and his captivating book, Out in Evansville. Learn about the rich history of Evansville’s LGBTQ+ community as Coures shares poignant stories of identity and resilience.
Event Details:
Date: Saturday, June 22, 2024
Time: 3:30 PM
Location: Browning Gallery
Event Highlights:
- Author Presentation: Kelley Coures will discuss his book and the compelling history it unveils.
- Q&A Session: Engage with the author and ask your burning questions.
- Book Signing: Get your copy of Out in Evansville signed by Kelley Coures.
About the Book:
Out in Evansville reveals the turbulent journey of the LGBTQ+ community in Evansville. From facing arrests and ostracization to celebrating public festivals and drag shows, this community has shown remarkable resilience. In the early days, local newspapers bullied LGBTQ+ individuals, even encouraging them to commit suicide. The 1950s and 1960s saw a series of murders that went unpunished, and the 1980s AIDS epidemic further marginalized the community. Yet today, the LGBTQ+ population of Evansville proudly marches in the annual Pride parade, reflecting over a century of uneven progress. Kelley Coures tells this often tragic, yet at times hopeful, story with depth and sensitivity.
Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about an important chapter in our local history and to support a talented local author!
Willard Public Library encourages patrons and visitors to donate graciously to ensure the continuation of events like this for years to come. The WPL Foundation is a non-profit organization registered as a 501(c)(3). >> https://www.willardlib.org/donate
Ivy Tech Evansville and Aurora Material Solutions Launch Apprenticeship Program
Ivy Tech Evansville and Aurora Material Solutions Launch Apprenticeship Program to Support Advanced Manufacturing Workforce
JUNE 22, 2024
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Ivy Tech Community College Evansville and Aurora Material Solutions (formerly Aurora Plastics) today announced details of a new apprenticeship program aimed at building a diverse pipeline of highly skilled advanced manufacturing talent. As part of the partnership, apprentices will pursue an industrial maintenance repair technician certificate with Ivy Tech Evansville in a structured and progressive learning environment while employed by Aurora Material Solutions. The partnership announced today is registered with the U.S. Department of Labor and is made possible by a $4.7 million grant through the agency’s Apprenticeship Building America program.
They are headquartered in Streetsboro, Ohio with a technical and production facility in Evansville, Aurora Materials Solutionsmanufactures high-quality advanced polymers, custom thermoplastics and compounds for a variety of applications in the automotive, building and construction, industrial, consumer goods, medical, electrical, transportation and cable industries. As part of the Ivy Tech partnership, over the course of four years, apprentices will develop the skills required for two or more maintenance and craft occupations to support machines, mechanical equipment and facilities upkeep.
Ivy Tech customized Aurora Material Solutions’ training program in partnership with Ivy+ Career Link, the College’s transformative approach to career and workforce development that partners with employers to design training solutions that meet their specific talent needs – how, when and where they need it. The program includes 30 credit hours of coursework on topics such as industrial electricity, fluid power, welding, workplace safety, motor controls and machine maintenance and installation.
“Ivy Tech applauds Aurora Material Solutions for providing their industrial maintenance employees with the opportunity to access high-quality skills training that will help advance their career in advanced manufacturing,” said Scott Derr, lead project navigator for the U.S. Department of Labor Apprenticeship Building America grant, Ivy Tech. “We are proud to expand the number of registered apprenticeships throughout the state of Indiana through the Apprenticeships Building America program. This partnership is the first this grant has supported in southwest Indiana, but certainly not the last.”
“Investing in Ivy Tech apprenticeship programs is not just about shaping the future workforce; it’s about empowering students to turn their passions into professions, fostering innovation and driving economic growth,” said David Bacon, plant manager, Aurora Materials Solutions.
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How the Republican Party Betrayed America By Richard Moss, MD
Richard Moss, M.D., Ear Nose and Throat Surgeon, pulls no punches in his latest book titled The Empire of Eunuchs: How the Republican Party Betrayed America he accuses the Republican Party as being “no different than the very same Democrat Party it claims to oppose.”
Calling the daily assault on our country “a destructive jihad against the [American] economy,” Moss clearly elucidates how both parties have threatened the republic and its founding principles as they attack the federal and constitutional systems. Coupled with the failure of both parties to protect American interests, are the globalists, which if they get their way will usher in a world where “we cease to be human.”
Moss highlights the Republican Party “never truly addressing the annual deficits, mounting debt, increasing dependency, and expanding unfunded liabilities.”
As far as Moss is concerned, the Republican Party is “a weak, limp, rudderless organization that has achieved little or none of its stated goals and purposes.”
He asserts that it is only by a “rebranded, committed, conservative, economic, Christian nationalist party (which as a Jew, [he] fully embraces) supportive and dedicated to American sovereignty, can the great American experiment survive.”
His is a clarion call for an America Reborn party that is willing to “fight and die on cultural issues,” which he believes, are even more important than budgets and tax policy if the nation is to survive.
He argues that “those who believe in the American enterprise desperately need to reform the Republican Party from within or create a new one.”
If Republicans continue to fall sway to the “woke, identarian, intersectional, racialized, feminized, transgendered, and anti-American Democrat party” which is ultimately laying the ground for “future gulags and reeducation camps like the Leninist and Maoist forebears of the 20th century,” America will continue its downward trajectory.
Having discarded the founders, liberty, and the rule of law, the Republican and Democrat parties — which he now calls the Uniparty, are both going in the same direction. Both want to “expand the government, erode liberty, spend and borrow the nation into oblivion, destroy the middle class” and eviscerate free market capitalism. This is being done concurrently with the “destruction of our culture, norms, religion and two-parent married families.” While the Democrats may get there quicker, the Republicans will just “slow boil” into communism.
Moss’ book challenges his readers into understanding that the Uniparty is “busy destroying culture and civilization, [as] they move like termites from one foundational beam to the next, eroding the structure and tenets of society.” Hence, transgenderism is endorsed and never refuted by the Republican establishment.
The cry of systemic racism is never exposed for the actual racism of its proponents and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion mantra is never revealed for the inherent evil where equity “means equal outcomes, achieved if necessary by unequal treatment, biased competition and preferential judging” — hardly the genuine aim of equality that is so deeply rooted in U.S.A. history.
Moss courageously rips off the curtain of the Marxist manipulation of language so that social justice is revealed for the base injustice that it is.
Moss maintains that it should not be that difficult to challenge these bankrupt and destructive ideas. They have been repeatedly used in other communist countries and have a “proven track record of poverty, unemployment, scarcity, misery, prison camps, torture, slavery, mass executions, and, not infrequently, genocide.”
Is Moss exaggerating? Is he a bit hyperbolic in his assertions?
Despite mounds of evidence, people still do not comprehend that “socialism and central planning never fail to fail.”
One need only see the assault on law and order that is wreaking havoc at the southern border and in Democrat-controlled cities to realize that Moss is right on target.
Because of their failure to offer an alternative vision, Republicans are allowing the country to morph into a lawless, bankrupt banana republic.
Clearly a student of history, Moss fights against the oft-repeated but incorrect “three-fifths clause” and explains that it was “actually an anti-slavery provision made by anti-slavery delegates not to diminish blacks but to reduce Congressional representation of pro-slave states.”
Moss spares nothing when he describes how Franklin Delano Roosevelt, long revered by Americans, actually ushered in the ever-enlarging role of central government, which ultimately became “legal government-sponsored theft.”
Moss writes of his own evolution as a political thinker and candidate when he ran for office in October 2015, 2018, and 2024.
But in 2010 as a friend who challenged him asked “for once in your endless rants, tell what you would do specifically, not what should not be done.”
Moss’ response:
- Repeal Obamacare.
- Return government spending to 2008 levels or even earlier.
- Limit government spending to 20% of GDP or less.
- Sunset resolution on all mandates, programs, and agencies every two years.
- Cut federal bureaucracy across the board by 20%
- End public sector unions
- Must find a constitutional basis for any new legislation
- End autopilot programs where multitude of programs are automatically increased and no vote or debate has occurred
- No further bailouts or takeovers
- End various subsidies and corporate welfare
- End illegal immigration
Part autobiography, part political tract, The Empire of Eunuchs also encompasses articles that Moss has written over the years concerning the political morass America finds itself.
Moss’ angst is just.
He takes on Mike Pence’s decision concerning Trump’s election and maintains that Pence should have allowed the ten-day moratorium since there was a precedent for that. In fact, Pence had the “right — and duty to allow that investigative process to unfold.”
The Empire of Eunuchs is a righteous clarion call for true action. It is a fitting description for a party that has capitulated so much that one cannot tell the difference between them and the insufferable Democrat Party. Repeatedly, Moss makes the point that if we lose the culture, the politics are lost as well. Dependence on the government is the surest path to the end of the country. Yet, “pathetic Republicans refuse to make the case. More than the stupid party, they [are] the party of Eunuchs, of cowards, the new castrati.”
In reality, America must die in order for the Left to succeed. The Left is all about “power and its permanent acquisition.” While conservatives live for other things, like… families, homes, churches, jobs, careers, businesses, and hobbies, the Left is singularly focused. Their family is the Democrat Party. Their church is the Left. They live for politics and power. Their dogma, Marxism. Centralized government power is their highest goal.
With laser focus, Moss asks if the Republican Party is ready for the” mythic and cataclysmic battle that is occurring under our noses.”
Up to now, it would appear that the Republican Party is a group of ineffectual people, eunuchs who would rather bow to the radical left than stand up for the values of America.
Moss calls out the constant Republican urge of “reaching across the aisle” which only results in yet another furthering of the leftist cause.
Moss is not afraid to voice his thoughts and ideas. In a recent piece, he proposes what solidly red states can do to defend the rule of law and our G-d given, inalienable rights.
Is Richard Moss a maverick who will help usher in a renewal of America? Time will tell. Other Americans can read his impassioned book and spread his message.
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FOOTNOTE: THE CITY-COUNTY OBSERVER POSTED THIS ARTICLE WITHOUT OPINION. BIAS OR EDITING.
USI Women’s Soccer releases 2024 schedule
USI Women’s Soccer releases 2024 schedule
JUNE 22. 2024
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Soccer has announced its schedule for the 2024 championship season, which officially kicks off Sunday, August 18 when the Screaming Eagles make their first-ever visit to Arkansas State University.
“We are excited to announce the 2024 women’s soccer schedule,” USI Women’s Soccer Head Coach Eric Schoenstein said. “The 2024 schedule will be the most challenging schedule yet in our Division I era.”
Southern Indiana will play two preseason exhibitions in early August, traveling to Southern Illinois University on August 6 and hosting Middle Tennessee State University on August 10 from Strassweg Field.
Following the season-opening match at Arkansas State, USI kicks off its home slate on August 22 against Robert Morris University. The Screaming Eagles will also host Wright State University (September 1), Miami University (Ohio) (September 8), and Bellarmine University (September 15) during the non-conference season.
Other non-conference road stops include visits to Eastern Kentucky (August 25) and Northern Illinois University (August 29) in consecutive road games, Purdue University Fort Wayne (September 5), and Austin Peay State University (September 12).
Southern Indiana’s third season in the Ohio Valley Conference kicks off September 22 at Southeast Missouri State University. The nine-match conference schedule includes back-to-back home dates at Strassweg Field against the University of Tennessee at Martin on September 26 and Eastern Illinois University on September 29. Following a road match at Lindenwood University on October 3, USI will take on the top two teams from the 2023 season. USI hosts Tennessee Tech University, the 2023 OVC regular-season champions, on October 6 before the Screaming Eagles venture to Morehead State University, the reigning OVC tournament champions, on October 13. Southern Indiana then hosts a rematch of last season’s OVC quarterfinal match against the University of Arkansas at Little Rock on October 17. USI concludes the regular season on the road at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (October 20) before a home finale against Western Illinois University (October 27).
The OVC Championship Tournament runs from October 31 through November 10.
“The plan is to play a difficult non-conference schedule in preparation for an extremely competitive OVC schedule,” Schoenstein added. “In our second OVC season in 2023, we took a great step forward by finishing tied for third in the standings and hosting a quarterfinal match in the conference tournament. The team’s focus is to continue to improve each season and challenge for the OVC title.”
USI Women’s Soccer enters year three of its transition period to NCAA Division I and in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Screaming Eagles went 4-8-7 overall with a 3-2-4 conference record last season.
The full schedule with match times and gameday promotions can be found on the USI Women’s Soccer schedule page on usiscreamingeagles.com.
CenterPoint Energy launches new billing system for customers in southwestern Indiana
Evansville, Ind. – June 20, 2024 − CenterPoint Energy today announced its Indiana customers will soon transition to a new billing system.
Beginning July 2, customers will receive a new account number and will experience a new online interface. The update also includes a redesigned bill format, simplified program enrollments, more self-service options and additional features. Customers will find their new account number on the upper right corner of their bill, online at CenterPointEnergy.com/MyAccount on the left side of the dashboard when logged into their account or by calling CenterPoint customer service.
“We recognize this transition may require additional efforts from some customers, and we appreciate their patience and understanding as we transition to the new system,” said Tony Gardner, CenterPoint Energy’s Senior Vice President, Customer Experience and Chief Customer Officer. “CenterPoint is committed to providing continuous support and keeping our customers informed throughout this process.”
Some CenterPoint services, including online account management and the automated phone system, will be temporarily unavailable from June 27 to July 1 as the company transitions to the new system. Customers are encouraged to schedule or complete their bill payments before June 26 to avoid a temporary delay in processing. Natural gas and electric emergencies can still be reported by phone.
Customers who have automatic bill payment arrangements through their financial institutions (banks or credit unions, rather than their online accounts referred to as My Account), should inform their financial institutions of their new CenterPoint account number in July to ensure automatic payments continue.
Customers who receive payment assistance through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) will not need to take action to continue program participation. Their previous CenterPoint account information will automatically transfer to the new account number.
Customers will no longer be able to report an electric outage via text message, and the option to report through the website will be temporarily unavailable. The company will notify customers once the website reporting functionality is restored. Customers enrolled in Power Alert Service® (PAS) will be alerted via phone call, text or email when a service interruption is detected followed by estimated restoration times concerning an electric outage.
Since mid-April, CenterPoint has been proactively communicating these changes and additional details with customers. Information is now available, including an extensive FAQ section, on the company’s website, providing detailed guidance on the new system’s features and how to best manage the transition. In the days immediately following the system transition, customer service representatives will be on standby to address additional questions or concerns.
FRIDAY, JUNE 21 SWIMMING FINALS
Three Hoosiers competed in the 100-meter butterfly preliminary at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials in Indianapolis.
- Finn Brooks dropped a personal best 51.90, 45 hundredths faster than his previous best, to reach Friday night’s semifinal as the No. 6 seed.
- Brooks and Owen McDonald (200 IM final) will swim during Friday night’s session, set to begin at 8 p.m. ET.
Results
Men’s 100-meter butterfly
- 6. Finn Brooks – 51.90 (Qualified for Semifinal)
- 22. Dylan Smiley – 52.95
- 55. Brendan Burns – 54.00
FOUNDING DOCUMENTS
GAVEL GAMUT
By Jim Redwine
FOUNDING DOCUMENTS
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signed House Bill 71 into law Wednesday, 17 June 2024. Governor Landry stated, “If you want to respect the rule of law you gotta start from the original law giver which was Moses, … he got his commandments from God.” Louisiana HB 71 decrees that every public school in Louisiana and every non-public school that receives state funds shall display the Ten Commandments in every building and every classroom it uses.
HB 71 sets forth its version of the Ten Commandments that must be displayed as follows:
“The Ten Commandments
I AM the Lord thy God.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven images.
Thou shall not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
Thou shalt not kill.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his cattle, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.”
Louisiana schools may expend public money to install the documents or may solicit or accept donations for those purposes. The Bill makes no attempt to discuss the contents of these provisions nor does the Louisiana Legislature explain why it posits the Ten Commandments played any role in forming the law of the United States.
However, the imminent philosopher of myth and law, Joseph Campbell, explained how our Founders looked to the Enlightenment for guidance, not to the Bible or any religion:
“Now let us ask: what about the symbolism of the Bible? Based on the Old Sumerian astronomical observations of five to six thousand years ago and an anthropology no longer credible, it is hardly fit today to turn anybody on.
In fact, the famous conflict of science and religion has actually nothing to do with religion, but is simply of two sciences: that of 4000 B.C. and that of A.D. 2000.
….
The Biblical image of the universe simply won’t do anymore; neither will the Biblical notion of a race of God, which all others are meant to serve (Isaiah 49:22-23; 61: 5-6, etc.) nor again, the idea of a code of laws delivered from on high and to be valid for all time
….
The problems of our world are not even touched by those stone-cut Ten Commandments that we carry about as luggage and which, in fact, were disregarded in the blessed text itself, one chapter after they were announced (Exodus 21:12-17, following 20:13).”
Campbell goes on to explain how our modern legal world is not and cannot be based on religion:
“The modern Western concept of a legal code is not of a list of unassailable divine edicts, but of a rationally contrived, evolving compilation of statutes, shaped by fallible beings in council, to realize rationally recognized social (and therefore temporal) aims.”
Joseph Campbell, Myths to Live By, 1972,
ISBN 0 14 019.461 4, at pp. 88-89.
Or as political commentator James Carville more succinctly and prosaically stated about the HB 71and similar legislation, “It is the dumbest waste of time I’ve ever seen in my life!”
For more Gavel Gamut articles go to www.jamesmredwine.com
EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT
FOOTNOTE: EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT information was provided by the EPD and posted by the City-County-County Observer without opinion, bias, or editing.