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“READERS FORUM” JULY 26, 2019

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We hope that today’s “READERS FORUM” 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.

WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND TODAY?

Todays “Readers Poll’ question is: Who was the most or is the most effective “First Lady” of Evansville?

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Footnote: City-County Observer Comment Policy. Be kind to people. Personal attacks or harassment will not be tolerated and shall be removed from our site.
We understand that sometimes people don’t always agree and discussions may become a little heated.  The use of offensive language and insults against commenters shall not be tolerated and will be removed from our site.
Any comments posted in this column do not represent the views or opinions of the City-County Observer, our media partners or advertisers

On My Way Pre-K Now Enrolling Children In All 92 Indiana Counties

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Eligible Families Can Enroll Children At No Charge To Help Prepare For Kindergarten And Beyond

INDIANAPOLIS – As the 2019/2020 school year approaches, more than half the available slots have been filled for Indiana’s state-sponsored On My Way Pre-K program. Right now Hoosier children and their families are getting connected with high-quality providers in their area, as state law recently expanded the program statewide. Low-income families are encouraged to act quickly to see if they are eligible for On My Way Pre-K for their 4-year-old children as soon as August. On My Way Pre-K has served approximately 8,000 eligible families at no charge to them to help prepare young Hoosiers for kindergarten.

“Our research tells us that On My Way Pre-K children make higher gains than their peers in important aspects of school readiness such as language comprehension, early literacy, executive functioning and a reduction in behavior problems in the classroom,” said Nicole Norvell, director of Indiana’s Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning.

Families must meet the following eligibility requirements:

  • The family must have an income below 127 percent of the federal poverty level.
  • Their child must be 4-years-old by August 1, 2019, and starting kindergarten in the 2020/2021 school year.
  • Parents or guardians in the household must be working, going to school or attending job training.

Links to electronic applications in both English and Spanish are available at OnMyWayPreK.org. Now is the time to act because space is limited and school begins soon. Applications are open year-round.

Families may call 800-299-1627 for assistance from an early learning referral specialist or for other questions about On My Way Pre-K. Stay up-to-date via Facebook @OnMyWayPreKIndiana.

EVANSVILLE BOARD OF PUBLIC SAFETY MINUTES

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BOARD OF PUBLIC SAFETY MINUTES

Democratic Presidential Hopefuls Target Inequality At Urban League Convention

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Democratic Presidential Hopefuls Target Inequality At Urban League Convention

 

By Abrahm Hurt and Brandon Barger
TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS—Five Democratic candidates for president agreed on one thing Thursday as they addressed the National Urban League convention in Indianapolis: there are still inequalities across the country that a new president must fix.

In separate addresses, followed by questions from the league’s president, Marc H. Morial, each of the five focused on what they would do to not leave any American behind if the voters hire them in the 2020 election.

For some, that included protecting the right to vote.

Former Vice President Joe Biden singled out voter suppression as “the most insidious threat to progress” the country faces.

“I can promise you this,” Biden told several hundred attendees at the gathering. “My administration and the Department of Justice will once again protect fundamental rights to vote, and I’ll lead the fight to reaffirm the connections with the Voting Rights Act.”

His call for automatic voter registration, in fact, drew some of the loudest applause of the day.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota also focused on voting, saying that: “The first thing we need to do is to make sure African-Americans can vote.”

Biden and Klobuchar were joined Thursday at the convention of urban leaders and civil rights’ activists by Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Rep. John Delaney of Maryland and Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio, with the discussions focusing on voter turnout, racial inequality and the need to elect a new president in 2020.

Friday, four more Democratic candidates who accepted the nonpartisan organization’s invitation to speak – Sen. Kamala Harris of California, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and conservative filmmaker Ami Horowitz – will lay out their visions.

J.R. Nobles, a 35-year-old educator from Washington state, said Biden impressed him the most with his “clear coherent plans.”

But, he said, he has not made a decision on which of the Democrats he’ll support.

“I think they really hit home on the issues. Voter suppression is major, and I think that each one of them really addressed that,” he said.

Henry M. Thomas III, the 70-year-old president and CEO of the Springfield, Massachusetts, Urban League, said Booker moved up on his list by being authentic and genuine.

“But I have to be honest about it, all of them were authentic and genuine in their presentations,” he said. “It’s more a gut feeling that you have as to, ‘OK, now if you had to pick, who would you go with?’”

Of all the speakers, Biden—the last to speak Thursday—received the most crowd interaction and applause from the attendees. And he also was the most direct and critical of the man each hopes to replace: President Donald Trump.

In fact, only one other candidate – Booker – even mentioned Trump by name.

Biden said there is currently “a battle for the soul of America.”

“We have a president of the United States,” he began, before being interrupted by laughter as he made a face, followed by the sign of the cross.

“Be nice, Joe. Be nice,” Biden admonished himself, to applause.

He cited Trump’s words after the violent 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in which one woman was killed and rally-goers chanted such things as “Jews will not replace us.”

When the president commented on the rally, Biden reminded the convention, “he said there are very fine people on both sides.” He also cited Trump’s more recent criticisms of four Democratic congresswomen, all minorities.

“He’s actively working to undo every bit of the progress President Obama and I and our administration did,” he said. “We have to defeat Donald Trump this time.”

Biden has led in polls so far, making him the target of other Democrats vying for the nomination. In the first debate, it was Harris who directly took on Biden. Lately, Booker has stepped up his criticisms of Biden’s long record in politics.

Thursday, Booker did not mention Biden by name, but he made a clear allusion to the Democrat front-runner as he discussed racial inequality.

“It is easy to call Donald Trump a racist now. You get no badge of courage for that,” Booker said. “The question is what were you doing to address structural inequality and institutional racism throughout your life. Don’t just tell us what you’re going to do. Tell us what you’ve already done.”

Booker, who was the first to speak Thursday, emphasized the need for “electability” and an increase in voter turnout in the African-American community.

“The truth is we need to understand that we cannot beat Donald Trump unless we have a large, vibrant turnout in the black community,” he said. “The next nominee of the Democratic Party will not win if they cannot inspire, connect with and earn the trust of our community.”

Delaney and Ryan also focused on eliminating inequality, with Delaney saying that as a white man he’s had an easier path than others.

“That’s just not fair,” he said, calling for not-for-profit banks to invest in communities that need a boost. “Nothing happens unless someone invests in a person, in a community or in a business.”

Ryan, who drew laughter from the crowd when he walked out to Johnny Cash singing “I’ve Been Everywhere,” said the systems that handle areas such as immigration, health care and criminal justice “are all broken.”

“We’re fighting over how we’re going to try to fix (them.) Is it left or right that fixes these old systems? In my mind, it’s new and better and it’s not reform, it’s transformed.”

The four-day conference – the first time in 25 years that the National Urban League has held its convention in Indianapolis – continues at the Indiana Convention Center through Saturday.

FOOTNOTE: Abrahm Hurt and Brandon Barger are reporters for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalists.

Braun, Young, Brady Introduce Bill To Cap, Cut, And Balance The Budget

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This week Senator Mike Braun, Senator Todd Young, and Congressman Kevin Brady (R-TX) introduced the Maximizing America’s Prosperity (MAP) Act:

“As a Main Street businessman, I believe we need to reduce runaway federal spending and address our national debt and the MAP Act provides Congress with the tools to accomplish this goal,” said Senator Braun. “This commonsense bill will cap federal spending, then cut any spending over the caps, which will ultimately lead to a balanced budget.”

Senator Todd Young (R-IN) said, “As a father of four young children, one of my greatest concerns is our nation’s skyrocketing debt being passed down to the next generation. We must get our fiscal house in order and rein in the true drivers of our debt. The MAP Act is a commonsense solution to help get us on the right track.”

“Washington doesn’t have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem; and the best way for Congress to approach this issue is by committing to smarter federal spending caps,” said Congressman Brady. “I introduced the MAP Act to put America’s budget back on a path to sustainable financial solvency. It is my hope that Congress can come together to pass this act swiftly and finally rein in federal spending.”

Both H.R. 3930 – the House legislation – and S. 2245 – the Senate legislation – have multiple cosponsors.

Click here to watch Congressman Brady’s press conference.

Click here to learn more about the MAP Act and why it’s a better way to cap federal spending.

Click here to read the full coalition letter of support.

What Comes After Mueller? Investigations, Lawsuits And More

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What Comes After Mueller? Investigations, Lawsuits And More

INDIANALAWER 

JULY 25, 2019

After months of anticipation, Congress finally heard testimony from former special counsel Robert Mueller. So what now?
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Mueller’s appearance was “a crossing of a threshold,” raising public awareness of what Mueller found. And Democrats after the hearing said they had clearly laid out the facts about the Mueller report, which did not find a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia but detailed extensive Russian intervention in the 2016 election. Mueller also said in the report that he couldn’t clear President Donald Trump on obstruction of justice.
But it remains to be seen how the testimony will affect public views of Trump’s presidency and the push for impeachment. Mueller said some of the things that Democrats wanted him to say — including a clear dismissal of Trump’s claims of total exoneration — but he declined to answer many of their questions, and he spoke haltingly at times. Trump claimed victory, saying Mueller did “a horrible job.”

Democrats say they will continue to hold Trump to account. Here is a look at what to expect in the coming months:

Investigations continue: Democrats have struggled to obtain testimony from some of the most crucial figures in Mueller’s report, including former White House counsel Donald McGahn. And the few people they have interviewed, such as former White House aide Hope Hicks, have failed to give them new information beyond what’s in Mueller’s report.

But Democrats have multiple investigations of the president ongoing that doesn’t require cooperation from the White House or Justice Department. The House intelligence and financial services committees are probing Trump’s finances, an area that Mueller appears to have avoided. And the intelligence panel is investigating Trump’s negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow during the campaign.

Going to court: To obtain testimony from McGahn and others, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler said Wednesday that his panel will file lawsuits this week.

Democrats will seek to obtain secret grand jury material from Mueller’s report that has so far been withheld from Congress by the Justice Department. They will also try to force McGahn to provide documents and testimony.

As part of the suits, the House is expected to challenge the White House’s claim of “absolute immunity,” which has been used to block McGahn and others who worked in the White House from testifying.

While going to court can be a lengthy process, Democrats believe it will be their best chance of obtaining information after Trump declared he would fight “all of the subpoenas.”

Calls for impeachment inquiry: Almost 90 House Democrats have called for an impeachment inquiry, and more are certain to do so after Mueller’s testimony. Those who support opening proceedings say it would bolster Democrats’ court cases and show the American people they are moving decisively to challenge what they see as Trump’s egregious behavior.

But Pelosi isn’t there yet, and a majority of the caucus is siding with her for now.

Pelosi said Wednesday she wants “the strongest possible hand” by waiting to see what happens in court.

August recess: The House is expected to leave town for a five-week August recess on Friday, so some of the Democrats’ efforts will be on hold until September.

During that time, they’ll be at home listening to their constituents and judging how urgently voters want them to act. Those conversations and town halls could inform the next steps in the fall.

Still, not everyone will be taking a break. Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline said Wednesday that members might fly back in August if witnesses are available for testimony. He said the judiciary panel understands “the urgency of the moment and are prepared to do whatever is necessary to secure the attendance of witnesses and documents.”

Election security: Democrats in both the House and the Senate want to move forward with legislation to make elections more secure after Mueller extensively detailed Russian interference.

House Democrats have passed legislation to secure state election systems and try to prevent foreign meddling, but bipartisan legislation in the Senate has stalled. Democrats tried to bring up an election security bill in the Senate on Wednesday, but Republicans objected.

Justice Department reviews: The Justice Department isn’t done with its own investigations into what happened before the 2016 election.

There are two ongoing reviews into the origins of the Russia probe that Mueller eventually took over — one being conducted by the Justice Department’s inspector general and another by U.S. Attorney John Durham, who was appointed by Attorney General William Barr to examine surveillance methods used by the Justice Department.

Republicans have said the department, then led by Obama administration officials, was biased against Trump. They are eagerly anticipating the results of those probes.

Republicans say it’s over: Republicans say that nothing should be next, at least when it comes to investigations of the president. They have strongly defended Trump, who has called Mueller’s probe a hoax and have said the country wants to move on.

“Today was a day we closed the book on this investigation,” said House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy after Mueller’s hearing.

Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, the top Republican on the judiciary panel, said at the hearing that “we’ve had the truth for months — no American conspired to throw our elections.”

Said Collins: “What we need today is to let that truly bring us confidence and closure.”

EPA Administrator Wheeler and White House CEQ Chairman Neumayr Honor Over 200 Teachers And Students

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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler and White House Council of Environmental Quality (CEQ) Chairman Mary Neumayr announced the 2019 awardees of the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators (PIAEE) and the President’s Environmental Youth Award (PEYA) during an awards ceremony at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C.

“The Presidential Environmental Education Awards Ceremony is a day I look forward to each year because it is a time when we honor some of the best and brightest in environmental education and stewardship,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “This year, CEQ Chairman Mary Neumayr joined me in celebrating our 200 student and teacher winners who represent excellence in environmental protection. Congratulations and thank you to all our winners for their dedication to protecting human health and the environment.”

“It was a pleasure to join Administrator Wheeler today as we recognized the achievements of students and teachers from across the country who are promoting environmental stewardship and furthering environmental education in their communities and schools,” said CEQ Chairman Neumayr. “These students are our nation’s next generation of leaders and are doing outstanding work.”

From across the country, 19 educators and 200 students were recognized for their remarkable efforts that promote environmental education and stewardship. Eleven educators received the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators, and eight educators were recognized with an honorable mention distinction. Additionally, the 200 student award recipients – who worked as a team or individually on 17 projects – received the President’s Environmental Youth Award.  Altogether, EPA received 162 project applications from 26 states.

Teacher and student awardees presented their projects at a poster session for attendees and EPA leadership, and EPA program offices hosted the “EPA Student Information Fair,” during which students and teachers interacted with staff to learn more about the agency’s work.

Established by the 1990 National Environmental Education Act, the PEYA program promotes local environmental awareness among our nation’s youth and encourages positive community involvement. EPA Headquarters works with staff located in EPA’s 10 regional offices in the selection of award recipients across the country.

Also established by the 1990 National Environmental Education Act, PIAEE supports, encourages and nationally honors outstanding kindergarten through high school educators who integrate environmental and place-based, experiential learning into school curricula and school facility management across the country. Under the act, the White House CEQ assists EPA in administering the awards program.

The PIAEE program seeks to recognize, support and bring public attention to the outstanding environmental projects performed by these innovative teachers who go beyond textbook instruction to incorporate methods and materials that utilize creative experiences and enrich student learning. The program recognizes up to 20 elementary and secondary (K-12) education teachers, school administrators, and their local education agencies and provides funding to help support those educators in their environmental education work.

PIAEE Winners:

Region 2

Aaron Baker
High Point Regional High School
Sussex, New Jersey

AnnMarie Mills
Islip Middle School
Islip, New York

Region 3

Brittany L. Bauer
Wyoming County East High School
New Richmond, West Virginia

Jared Fritzinger
Old Donation School
Virginia Beach, Virginia

Region 4

Nancy Platt
James B. Edwards Elementary School
Mount Pleasant, South Carolina

Carrie Settles Livers
Brookwood High School
Snellville, Georgia

Region 5

Jennifer A. Heyer
Cedar Ridge Elementary School
Eden Prairie, Minnesota

Region 6

Ryan D. Beeler
Spring Woods High School
Houston, Texas

Region 8

Amy R. Williams
Polson Middle School
Polson, Montana

Region 9

Jacqueline Omania
Oxford Elementary School
Berkeley, California

Region 10

Anne K. McHugh
Franklin High School
Portland, Oregon

The following teachers were recognized as PIAEE honorable mention recipients:

Region 3

Matthew Sturdivant
Odyssey Charter School
Wilmington, Delaware

Region 4

Missy Eason
Pine Grove Elementary School
Valdosta, Georgia

Elaine Fiore
Beachside Montessori Village
Hollywood, Florida

Region 6

Isabel Anaya
Charles L. Kuentz, Jr. Elementary School
Helotes, Texas

Allison Adkinson
Tarver-Rendon Elementary School
Burleson, Texas

Region 8

Caitlin Webb
Dixon School
Dixon, Montana

Region 9

Rachna Nath
Arizona College Preparatory – Erie Campus
Chandler, Arizona

Kelly Porter
Edison High School
Huntington Beach, California

PEYA Winners:

Region 1

Award Category: Grade 6-12  
Generation Growers
Team Members: Ava, Ella, Lila, Claire, Amelia, Madeleine, Beckett, Teaghan, Colby, Isabelle, Teddy, Lydia, Michael, Keigan, Annie, Carina, Emma, Sinead, Evan, Spencer, Lucy, Addison, Joey, Melanie, Gabby, Stella, Brooke, Ellie, Natalie, Olivia, and Nell
Massachusetts

Region 2

Award Category: Grade 6-12
Light and Hope for Puerto Rico
by Salvador
Puerto Rico

Region 3

Award Category: Grade 6-12  
Friends of the Earth
Team Members: Sebastian, Hannaha, Destany, Zoe, Myranda, Emily, Hailey, Taylor, David, Nathan, Hailey, Brenda, Amy, Angela, and Bryce
West Virginia

Region 4

Award Category: Grade K-5 
Bobcat Up! Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Team Members: Ben, Kayla, Eva, Gabriela, and Sabrina
Florida

Award Category: Grade 6-12 
The Fishes Wishes
by Ryan
Florida

Region 5

Award Category: Grade K-5
Recycling Trailblazer by Lane
Ohio

Award Category: Grade 6-12

Aquatic Robotics/Invasive Species Education
Team Members: Robert, Zakari, Brooklyn, James, Jack, Arnold, Ernest, Kevin, Carly, and Kirby
Minnesota

Region 6

Award Category: Grade K-5

Harveyville Recycling Team
Team Members: Ahmad, Reyna, Marley, Jayleen, Jamie, Sophia, Evelyn, Aiden, Mario, Zevin, Kaitlyn, and Estrella
Texas

Award Category: Grade 6-12

Northern Bobwhite Quail Reintroduction Project by Trevor
Texas

Region 7

Award Category: Grade K-5

Getting Markers Out of Landfills by Joslyn
Nebraska

Award Category: Grade 6-12

Pollinator Paradise

Team Members: Drake, Evan, Zachary, Peyton, Abigail, Riley, Katherine, Wyatt, Carlei, Elaine, Lucas, Makayla, Calvin, Zoe, Grant, Lindy, Alexander, Elijah, Zachariah, Carson, Evan, Madison, Cohen, Katie, Alexandria, Haley, Josephine, Joseph, Cale, Rose, William, Chase, Eliana, Peyton, Ashton, Alexander, James, Gwendolyn, Gavin, Caiden, Colby, Jack, Elsa, Jane, James, Hope, Liam, Landry, Sawyer, Sierra, Katelyn, Jackson, Karter, William, Bryson, Alex, Will, Henry, Audri, Abigail, Isaac, Dakota, Jillian, Vincent, Lilian, Landon, Kyah, Joshua, Hallie, Henry, Noah, Cohen, Emma, Gage, Cason, Liliana, Caiden, Kalie, Gracie, Annabelle, Mason, and Connor
Missouri

Region 8

Award Category: Grade K-5

Green Team Superheroes
Team Members: Aiden, Brady, Henry, Jackson, Alyssa, Madison, Annikah, Reagan, Samuel, Campbell, Julianne, Dillon, Genevieve
Colorado

Award Category: Grade 6-12

Development of a Novel Tool for Monitoring Soil Health and Contamination by Kylan
Colorado

Region 9

Award Category: Grade K-5

Whalemanji: Welcome to the Ocean – an integrated project to help support the Humpback Whale
Team Members: Electra, Luke, Rocco, Robert, Tej, Kinsey, Samantha, Kadence, Emilia, Luc, Isabelle, Izaak, Madison, Cisco, Cavan, Elyse, and Nash
California

Award Category: Grade 6-12

The Healthy Freedom Campaign
Team Members: Lila, Zion, Felix, Kohana, and Nikita
California

Region 10

Award Category: Grade K-5

Worm Soup and Growing Green
Team Members: Kamryn, Samantha, Aaron, and Emelyn
Washington

Award Category: Grade 6-12

Restoration and Preservation of Deer Creek in the Aftermath of the Beaver Creek Fire by Hunter
Idaho

 

Appeals Court To Decide Whether Lawrenceburg Should Share Gambling Money With Franklin County

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Appeals Court To Decide Whether Lawrenceburg Should Share Gambling Money With Franklin County

July 25, 2019  

By Abrahm Hurt
TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS– An Indiana appellate court heard oral arguments Monday over whether Lawrenceburg should have to pay more than $3 million in riverboat gambling revenue to Franklin County.

Lawrenceburg is appealing a ruling by a Decatur County judge who determined Franklin County is owed the money because of a 2006 revenue-sharing agreement between the city and county.

Lawrenceburg had paid $500,000 annually to Franklin County as part of a revenue-sharing agreement but stopped the payments in 2014 citing 30% decline in riverboat revenues since 2006. The judge ruled that Franklin County was owed $2.5 million for five years’ worth of missed payments, plus interest.

Franklin County argued that even with the decline, Lawrenceburg’s revenue was still about $20 million annually.

“Interestingly, the city of Lawrenceburg cites financial insecurity and instability but if you look at the designated evidence they put in front of the trial court, it’s actually a case of income was relatively flat,” said attorney Paul Jefferson, who represented Franklin County at Monday’s hearing before three appellate judges.

Lawrenceburg says the agreement is void because there were no appropriations after 2006 for the amounts that were allegedly owed, even though the money continued to be paid as a grant.

“This agreement could never have been appropriated for,” said Alice Morical, who is representing Lawrenceburg. “If the parties wanted to enter into an enforceable contract that would not be void under the statute, they could have agreed to pay $500,000 a year for 10 years.”

Instead, she said, the duration of the contract was ambiguous.

Morical said when the agreement was signed, payments were discussed as a contribution and would continue if Lawrenceburg continued to be financially stable with a steady flow of revenue. She argued that for the agreement to be a contract, Franklin County would have had to give Lawrenceburg something in return. The county, she said, offered nothing of value.

The judges focused their questions largely on Lawrenceburg, trying to determine why the agreement shouldn’t be considered binding.

FOOTNOTE: Abraham  Hurt is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalists.

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Pieroni Places Fourth in 100m Freestyle at FINA World Championships

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Indiana University postgraduate swimmer Blake Pieroni had a great showing in the final of the men’s 100m freestyle on Thursday morning at the 2019 FINA World Championships.

Pieroni finished fourth overall in the final, touching the wall with a time of 47.88. Earlier in the week, Pieroni won gold with Team USA in the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay.

In the women’s 200m breaststroke prelims, IU postgrad Lilly King won her heat, but was informed after the meet that she was disqualified for a non-simultaneous touch on her first turn. After a lengthy protest and appeals process, King’s DQ was upheld by FINA.

King is scheduled to compete in the women’s 50m breaststroke and is likely to be selected by Team USA to swim on the women’s 4x100m medley relay.

Swimming prelims in Gwangju begin each night at 9:00 p.m. ET, with finals the next morning starting at 7:00 a.m. ET. Swimming at the FINA World Championships runs through Monday, July 28.

HOOSIER PATRIOT

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