Indianapolis To Host 2020 Legislative Summit

Come out to the Vanderburgh County Fair for quality entertainment, livestock shows, great food, car show, demolition derby, concert, rodeo, and so much more all for an affordable price!

For more information and a complete schedule, click here.

In response to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) third Notice of Funding Availability, the agency received 51 letters of interest, collectively requesting $6.6 billion in Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) funding. This exceeds the $6 billion that EPA is offering, demonstrating the critical need for investment in our nation’s water infrastructure and strong interest in the WIFIA program.

“Since the WIFIA program’s inception in 2017, EPA has received requests totaling $21.7 billion for water infrastructure projects across the country – evidence of the urgent need to modernize our nation’s infrastructure,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “Through WIFIA, EPA is playing a critical role in President Trump’s efforts to upgrade our nation’s infrastructure in a manner that improves public health and environmental protections while creating good, local jobs. In 2019 alone, WIFIA could support the creation of up to 180,000 jobs and improve water quality for millions of Americans.”

Following a landmark 2018 program year, in which EPA received 62 letters of interest and invited 39 projects to apply for WIFIA loans, the agency received 51 new letters of interest for 2019. EPA is offering $6 billion in loans that would help fund approximately $12 billion in water infrastructure projects. The agency received letters from prospective borrowers located in 21 states, including 6 states for which no borrower had previously sought WIFIA loans. This brings the total number of states where WIFIA loans have been requested to 35, plus the District of Columbia and Guam.

For the first time, EPA announced water reuse and recycling as a WIFIA priority and several prospective borrowers submitted letters of interest to implement such projects. The funding requests also cover a wide variety of other topics, including wastewater, drinking water, desalination, stormwater management and combined approaches. The majority of prospective borrowers are municipal government agencies, while other prospective borrowers include small communities, public-private partnerships and corporations. As the next step in this competitive process, EPA will evaluate the letters for project eligibility, credit worthiness, engineering feasibility and alignment with WIFIA’s statutory and regulatory criteria. The agency will then identify projects it intends to finance and invite those selected entities to submit formal applications this fall. See the full list of letters of interest submitted.

FROM OLDUVAI TO EVERYWHERE

Gavel Gamut By Jim Redwine

The Olduvai Gorge in Africa is accepted by many as the original birthplace of all human ancestors. The gorge is found on the Serengeti Plain in northern Tanzania. Archaeologists and paleontologists have spent many years  researching our greater family tree since Dr. Louis Leakey and his wife, Mary, found the fossils the Leakeys opined were evidence of our oldest known ancestor.

Competing evidence for human origins was discovered in the Afar Depression in Ethiopia on the continent of Africa by Donald Johanson, Yves Coppens and Maurice Taieb who named the humanoid bones they found “Lucy” and dated her at about three million years old. Regardless of what evidence one follows, virtually every recognized authority on human history agrees every person who has ever lived can be traced back to this area of Africa. For us to return to our roots we would have to visit our grandmother Lucy or perhaps some other related fossil nearby. I will not attempt to determine how many “greats” that is.

I do know if Lucy was anything like my mother was she probably wondered why it took a couple of million years or so before any of her fourteen billion descendants paid her any attention; why can’t those kids, grandkids, etc., ever write home?

Anyway, I got to thinking about Lucy when the media began to report on President Trump’s tweets about The Squad: Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (Democrat, Massachusetts) born in Cincinnati, Ohio of African American heritage; Ilhan Omar (Democrat, Minnesota) born in Somali, Africa; Rashida Tlaib (Democrat, Michigan) born in Detroit, Michigan of Palestinian lineage; and, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Democrat, New York) born in the Borough of Queens in New York City and of Puerto Rican parents.

President Trump tweeted out on July 14, 2019 that each Congresswoman should go back to their country of origin … “[A]nd help fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how it is done.”

In an interview with CNN’s Kyung Lah on July 18, 2019 Kamala Harris (Senator from California) born in Oakland, California who is an announced candidate for President of the United States in 2020 and who has African American ancestors said of President Trump, “He needs to go back where he came from. And leave that office.” Donald Trump was born in the Borough of Queens, New York City, New York and is of German and Scottish heritage. Although I do understand how people from one of New York City’s five boroughs may consider someone born in one of the other boroughs to be foreign born or someone from California may consider a native New Yorker an alien and vice versa and that those folks in New York and California may see the rest of America as one giant undeveloped wilderness. Regardless, here we all are. Maybe a little wisdom from Rodney King, that eloquent and forgiving victim of mob and police violence, may be in order. As Mr. King asked in 1991, “Can’t we all just get along?”

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The Evansville African American Museum (EAAM) is pleased to announce that its Search Committee has selected Rita Prior as the Coordinator of Museum Experiences.

The Coordinator of Museum Experiences will be responsible for establishing the organization’s programming and educational components “With the addition of Mrs. Prior to our institution we will be able to implement a new set of programs designed to enlighten, entertain and educate.” said Dr. Ashley Jordan, Executive Director of EAAM. “Her passion for students and community organizing will help our efforts to be a convener within the community.”

Rita Prior is a native of Memphis, TN. After attending University of Memphis, she relocated to Kansas City, Missouri, where she attended and graduated from Cornerstone of Faith Theology and Seminary School. Rita has over twenty years of customer service, project management and team leadership experience. Her transition from corporate America to the non-profit sector has been a rewarding experience. Before coming to the museum, she worked as an Education and Outreach Coordinator for Metro Organization. She also serves as the board president for the AIDS Resource Group here in Evansville, Indiana.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to oversee the educational and programming departments for the Evansville African American Museum. The museum is poised to develop its mission and build on its tremendous legacy of 12 years of service to the community. I look forward to working with the team of the museum so that we can bring this legacy to a higher level of impact.”

Gov. Bevin Recognizes The Sacrifice of a Recently Identified Kentucky World War II Sailor Navy Fireman 1st Class Billy J. Johnson, Of Caney, Was Killed In Action On Dec. 7, 1941 FRANKFORT, Ky. (July 17, 2019) – Gov. Matt Bevin today recognized the sacrifice of a Kentucky sailor who died in World War II, but whose remains have just been positively identified. Navy Fireman 1st Class Billy J. Johnson, 22, of Caney, was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft on Dec. 7, 1941. The USS Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Johnson. From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crew, which were subsequently interred in the Halawa and Nu’uanu Cemeteries. In September 1947, tasked with recovering and identifying fallen U.S. personnel in the Pacific Theater, members of the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) disinterred the remains of U.S. casualties from the two cemeteries and transferred them to the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks. The laboratory staff was only able to confirm the identifications of 35 men from the USS Oklahoma at that time. The AGRS subsequently buried the unidentified remains in 46 plots at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a military board classified those who could not be identified as non-recoverable, including Johnson. Between June and November 2015, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) personnel exhumed the USS Oklahoma Unknown remains from the Punchbowl for analysis. To identify Johnson’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis. DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of the Navy for their partnership in this mission. Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently there are 72,692 still unaccounted for from World War II, of which approximately 30,000 are assessed as possibly-recoverable. Johnson’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for. Johnson will be buried Aug. 19, 2019, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. To download a photo of Navy Fireman 1st Class Johnson, click here.