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Tri-State Alliance Response To Drag Queen Story Hour

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Dear EVSC School Board members, Vanderburgh County Commissioners, and Vanderburgh County Council,

On behalf of the Tri-State Alliance, I am writing to you about EVPL’s Drag Queen Story Hour.

I view this as an issue of censorship. Some members of the community are trying to limit what library programs are available to the public. It is similar to banning books. As an EVPL patron, I have a choice of what books I read and what programs I attend. However, it is not my right to decide what books other patrons are allowed to read and what programs others are allowed to attend.

In one of the media articles, I read that some elected officials feel like this program is dividing the community. Actually, there is a segment of the community fighting a cultural war saying the LGBTQ communities are not welcome here. It is the same people who have been saying the same thing for decades.

Some Christians oppose Santa Clause, stating it takes away from the reason for the season. My pastor does Santa Clause Story Hour at the EVPL locations. Those who oppose the character Santa Clause do not try to stop other parents from bringing their kids to the event. They just don’t take their kids.

The same is true for Halloween. Some Christians oppose the celebration of Halloween. But do we end Halloween events at EVPL, or do we let parents choose what programs to take their kids to?

What is different about this program? Those doing the reading are from the LGBTQ communities. So this is being used as a way to attack the LGBTQ community. Opponents are stating this will influence kids to be LGBTQ, and implies that being LGBTQ is bad. And opponents are sexualizing kids story hour.

What is, in fact, truth is that most people, including elected officials, have LGBTQ friends, family, and Co-workers. The demonizing of LGBTQ citizens isn’t working anymore, at least for most people.

There are 2 major petitions online about this issue. Close to 3,000 have signed a petition against this event. Close to 5,000 have signed the petition in support of this event. I am sure both petitions have people who live outside our area …. and the petition against the event allows ‘anonymous’ signers. What does this mean? I believe it means most residents of Vanderburgh County don’t care one way or the other. I also read that 2 speakers at a Vanderburgh County Commissioners meeting opposed this program. I suggest that 2 speakers do not represent a majority of Vanderburgh County.

Discussions of banning a book, banning a program, eliminating funding for libraries or firing a librarian for reaching out to the community will help us make national news. It will make us a bad example on the issue of censorship and discrimination.

E is for everyone is Evansville’s slogan. Is Vanderburgh County Government going to call out the mayor and disagree with this slogan? I hope not.

I urge you not to support censorship. I urge you not to support discrimination. And I urge you not to use inflammatory language that refers to drag queens as the same as prostitutes. Please remember that you are talking about taxpayers and yes voters. People can disagree, but the level of dialogue about this issue has sunk to a new low in Vanderburgh County.

We can and should do better. Thanks for your attention and consideration.

Sincerely,

Wally Paynter, President
Tri-State Alliance
501 John Street Suite 5
Evansville IN 47713
812-480-0204, WallyPaynter@aol.com
http://tsagl.org/
https://www.facebook.com/tristatealliance/

VANDERBURGH COUNTY REPUBLICAN PART LINCOLN DAY DINNER

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You are Invited to Join the 
Vanderburgh County Republican Party
For Our 2019 Lincoln Day Dinner  
 
When:  Thursday, March 21, 2019
3810 Stringtown Rd., Evansville
 
 
Doors open : 5:30 pm
Reception   : 5:30 – 6:30pm

Dinner         : 6:30pm

Mark your calendar to join the VCRP on Thursday evening, March 21, 2019, for our annual Lincoln Day Dinner. This year’s featured speaker will be Indiana Freshman Senator Mike Braun. Additional information will be made available soon.
Contact Mary Jo Kaiser if you have any questions at 812-425-8207 or beamerjo59@gmail.com.
Featured Speaker:
The United States Senator Mike Braun
 
Paid for by the Vanderburgh County Republican Party, Farley Smith, Treasurer

The Internet: Blessings, Courtesy of the Free Market

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The Internet: Blessings, Courtesy of the Free Market

By Richard Moss, MD

 It is an astonishing time we live in although it is easy enough to take it for granted. Most people would not appreciate that the poorest American today lives a far better and more comfortable life than the richest American a hundred years ago. By any measure: life expectancy, health, access to sophisticated technology including life-saving medical devices and pharmaceuticals, handy comforts and devices, food, clothing, heating, cooling, electricity, lights, refrigeration, transportation, powerful computers that the poorest among us now hold in our hands, and so on, speak to an endlessly transformative economic system known as the free market, which continues to dazzle and improve our lives.

One of the greatest of these developments has been the internet. Overnight, as it were, untold volumes of information have become available to us at virtually no cost, with the click of a finger on a smart device or another computer. There are many benefits to this, but one of the most important is the ease with which any of us can start a business, an online business, with relatively minimal costs: a domain, hosting service, and website; then marketing your product online, through social media, email, and so forth, and, of course, monetizing it in some way, if possible, generally by deploying good and appealing content, goods, and services – on a steady basis.

None of this is terribly costly, just time, labor, imagination, and marketing.  But contemplate the price tag in starting a business pre-internet. It would require an office, phone and fax lines, furniture, printers, employees, rent, insurance, equipment, supplies, advertising, and so on: the expense and overhead would put it out of reach for many if not most people, regardless of how creative the business idea or content might have been.

Writers, columnists, novelists, bloggers, commentators, essayists, fiction, non-fiction, professional, trade, artistic, fantasy, have opportunities to develop, promote, and publish their work with an ease that would have been unreachable to writers of yesteryear – and in any genre or style: a plethora of subjects, perspectives, styles, and agendas that would have been unthinkable before. It is a new writer’s market that, thanks to American ingenuity and the free enterprise system, any such vagabond scribe can now join.

The writer’s journey can be taken by anyone with the will, wit, skill, and desire to ascend it. Or any business or creative journey for that matter. The world has opened.

FOOTNOTE: Dr. Richard Moss is a board certified head and neck cancer surgeon and was a candidate for Congress in 2016 and 2018. He graduated from the Indiana University School of Medicine and has been in practice in Jasper and Washington, IN for over 20 years. He is married with four children.  

Dr. Moss is the author of “A Surgeon’s Odyssey” and “Matilda’s Triumph” available on amazon.com and at Barnes and Noble in Evansville, IN.  For more information visit richardmossmd.com.  Find Richard Moss, M.D. on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

 

Proposed Incentives Could Help Attract More Firefighters

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Proposed Incentives Could Help Attract More Firefighters

February 1ST, 2019 JOYLYN BUKOVAC INDIANA

Fire officials say over the last 10 years they have seen a major decline in the number of people applying to become firefighters. Although, they are not the only ones having a hard time. Police departments in the tri-state are also seeing a drop in applications because of competition with the private sector.

“I’ve been involved in the fire services since 2003 and over that time period from 2004, 2005 up until now we have slowly seen it decrease. Everyone is busy and it seems like the younger generation isn’t interested in whatever reason,” says Boonville Fire Department Chief Steven Byers.

This is why Republican Representative Randy Frye introduced House Bill 1064. It has already passed through the House, but if it does become law, volunteer firefighters across the state could get free tuition to attend Ivy Tech. They are hoping incentives like that will catch the attention of millennials.

“It gives them an opportunity to get an education and get some of that covered where they can work towards a degree and get the help that they need financially. So it’s a huge incentive for the volunteer fire departments,” says Chief Byers.

Fire departments statewide are not the only ones seeing a decline in interest. Evansville Police say 25 years ago, they used to get 1,100 to 1,200 applications, but now they get about 200 on average.

“Law enforcement as a profession has really been under the microscope for the last few years. For officers that come to work every day and do a good job and are professional, to have every decision second-guessed and micromanaged and to face unwarranted criticism in their community, it’s not appealing for a young person to come in and put up with things like that,” says Evansville Police Sergeant Jason Cullum.

This decline is a trend seen all over the country and officials say a lot of it has to do with competitive wages.

“There are so many private sector jobs that pay well that have good pension plans so that there are things that are seen as job security in the government sector whether it be firefighters or police officers that people felt like they were getting those same job securities in the private sector,” says Sgt. Jason Cullum.

NEW HARMONY SCHOOL PROPERTY FOR SALE!

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THE NEW-HARMONY GAZETTE.

NEW HARMONY SCHOOL PROPERTY FOR SALE!

by: Dan Barton, publisher February 2019 Edition

This issue continues to go round and round. Town Council president Blaylock said at January 15, 2019, New Harmony Town Council meeting that, “There’s a story going around that the fellow buying the former school property wants to build an asphalt plant. Don’t believe for one second that the town would sell to somebody wanting to build an asphalt plant. I’d be totally 100% against it, rest assured. If you read what you read in the papers/letters to the editor, you’ll be chasing your tail around.” Once again it looks like Blaylock is the only one in New Harmony chasing his tail around.

There were various descriptions, depending on where and what you read, of exactly what Blaylock said at the January council meeting, but after reviewing both what I wrote in the New Harmony Gazette’s January edition, the Posey County News report of his statement on January 22nd, and David Campbell’s letter to the editor of the Posey County News in December 2018, I find no evidence anywhere that anyone said the, “Fellow buying the former school property…” was attempting to buy it for the purpose of building an asphalt plant or using it for the purpose of manufacturing, storing or producing asphalt. Nowhere!

What I said in the New Harmony Gazette was, “ He (Blaylock) only received two bids on the former New Harmony School property. One bid was for $80 thousand dollars from Lupfer Equipment, LLC. Blaylock didn’t bother to announce that name at the Council meeting. It was later learned that Lupfer Equipment is listed as being owned by Joseph Lupfer of Cynthiana. It’s identified as asphalt paving company.”

Of course, it’s possible that Lupfer Equipment does not use asphalt to pave with, as most other paving companies do. Maybe Lupfer uses other materials instead; concrete, bricks, paving stones or white rock. In Washington D.C. I’ve heard it said that companies even pave with gold, but we wouldn’t expect that in Posey County. I wouldn’t want to leave any of my readers with a misimpression by using the term “asphalt paving company” and imply that Lupfer would be producing asphalt on the school property. I mean it’s within the realm of possibility that they don’t use asphalt at all. If using the term “asphalt” left anyone with a misimpression, then I retract the word “asphalt” from my January writing. But Lupfer Equipment LLC. is indeed listed as a “paving company” in the public record, to be accurate.

The fact is that Blaylock has never said who the bidder was for the $80 thousand dollar bid. That information was gleaned from David Campbell’s letter to the editor in the Posey County News. Campbell was complaining about the use of heavy equipment by the paving company and running it through the streets of New Harmony and on the former school property. Campbell’s concern was about the damage these trucks would do to the school property parking lot and the town roads. Nothing about an asphalt plant.

Another letter sent to the editor of the Posey County News and also to the New Harmony Gazette by town resident Mrs. Ray Huelsmann complained about the traffic that would be generated by a paving company owning the former school property and being so close to Murphy Park. Her letter follows this article. It said nothing about asphalt production.

The point here is that Blaylock’s statement about newspapers is not an accurate representation of what was said in any newspaper account. It’s his attempt at political sophistry. He wants the public to think that the Press is being unfair to him regarding their criticism leveled at him about his constant mismanagement and mishandling of the care and marketing of the former school property. Maybe he’s just not getting it. Maybe he wants to shift the direction of discussion away from the comments about his bungling of the marketing and sale of the former school property. As far as what any bidder plans to do with the property, Blaylock has never revealed what any of them intend to do with it, or even who they are. It’s Blaylock’s secret!

He says that the newspapers will have the public chasing their tails. He sounds like he is trying to discourage the public from reading the newspaper accounts of his Town Council meetings. I guess he believes that the public should just take his word for it. That’s an option, but an unsound one. It’s advice that goes against the very nature of our nation’s founding principals. I say, “Read the newspaper accounts of the Town Council’s meetings! Read all of the newspaper accounts! Read the Town Council minutes prepared by the Town Clerk/Treasurer! Compare them! Better yet, go to each and every Town Council meeting that you can possibly attend and really be a part of your town, not just an anonymous bystander who is simply willing to accept the word of Alvin Blaylock! You will then know the truth! You will then be able to decipher the real truth from fiction.”

What this paper and what the citizens of New Harmony who attend the Council meetings have been urging Blaylock to do for at least the past year, is to persuade him that unless the former school property is not brought to the full market by a competent and honest real estate agent or broker, it will never realize it’s true value. The Town of New Harmony will then be forever shortchanged.

To consider selling the school property for as little as $80,000, which is $1.42 per square foot, or less, to anyone, is unfathomable. That would be like Blaylock selling his home for $2,500 dollars. Not likely to happen!

Rod Clark, a former New Harmony Zoning Administrator, asked Blaylock at the January meeting if he could explain why he hasn’t listed the property with a real estate agent. Blaylock said, “We was trying to go through the steps that the state mandated. The bid process comes first. The real estate agent part is next.”

Once again sophistry. Blaylock is sidestepping the question with an inaccurate answer. At the December council meeting, when the “steps the state-mandated” had been met Blaylock still pushed for rejecting the bids and rebidding the property at the level of the lowest bids that had been offered. He could have instead asked for a motion to list the property with a real estate agent. Attorney Bauer said so. He didn’t! Those are the facts. I doubt that he was not aware of the facts when he gave the misleading answer to Clark’s question in January.

Clark went on to ask if there was something in the state regulation that was keeping Blaylock from listing it with a broker. Blaylock’s answer was, “No!”

“Then why haven’t you done it?” Clark said. Blaylock sat looking blankly for several seconds and then said, “Because the Council hasn’t chosen to do it.” That is not an answer that the public deserves after months of delays and procrastinating by Council President Blaylock!

Changing the subject won’t change the equation, Mr. Blaylock! You are on the road to underselling the former New Harmony School property. Change directions!

Gov. Holcomb Makes Appointments to Various Boards and Commissions

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Governor Eric J. Holcomb today announced several new appointments and reappointments to various state boards and commissions.

 

Governor’s Council for People with Disabilities

The Governor appointed the following members to the council, with terms expiring April 30, 2021:

  • Beth DeHoff (Plainfield), family support coordinator with IU Health Physicians, will join the council.
  • Jennifer Noffsinger (Goshen), staff with the Elkhart County 4-H Fairgrounds, will join the council.

 

The Governor also appointed the following members to terms expiring Dec. 31, 2021:

  • Jim Aegerter (Greenwood), representing individuals with disabilities, will join the council.
  • Brandy Dickerson (Indianapolis), retention specialist with Easterseals Crossroads, will join the council.
  • Drew Dietrick (Indianapolis), production control analyst with the Marion County Board of Voter Registration, will continue his service on the council.
  • Ledrena Girton (Indianapolis), personal care attendant with QRL, will join the council.
  • Ayden Jent (Indianapolis), public information officer with the City of Indianapolis, will join the council.
  • Amanda Moore (Fishers), director of leadership development with YMCA of Greater Indianapolis, will join the council.
  • Angela Vandersteen (Greenwood), business development manager for Tangram, Inc., will join the council.

 

Indiana Law Enforcement Training Academy Board

The Governor appointed the following members to the board:

  • Starke County Sheriff Bill Dulin (Ora) will join the board. His term will expire Dec. 31, 2022.
  • Chief Patrick J. Flannelly (Lafayette) will join the board. His term will expire June 30, 2022.
  • Morgan County Sheriff Rich Myers (Martinsville) will join the board. His term will expire Dec. 31, 2022.
  • Vanderburgh County Sheriff Dave Wedding (Evansville) will join the board. His term will expire Dec. 31, 2022.

 

Native American Indian Affairs Commission

The Governor appointed the following members to the commission, with terms expiring Dec. 31, 2022:

  • Scott Brewer (Granger), senior vice president of government affairs, community relations, and security with the Four Winds Casino Resort, will join the commission and will serve as chair.
  • Felica Ahasteen-Bryant (Westfield), director of the Native American Educational & Cultural Center at Purdue University, will join the commission.
  • Dorene Red Cloud (Indianapolis), assistant curator of Native American Art at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, will join the commission.
  • Peter Magnant (Mooresville), retired, will continue his service on the commission.
  • Paul Strack (Monroeville), retired, will continue his service on the commission.
  • Sally Tuttle (Kokomo), retired, will continue her service on the commission.

 

Soil Conservation Board

The Governor appointed the following members to the board, with terms expiring Jan. 1, 2023:

  • Amy Burris (Loogootee), farmer at Burris Family Farms, will join the board.
  • Martin Chattin (Decker), president of Chattin Brothers, Inc., will continue his service on the board.
  • Robert Eddleman (Indianapolis), associate supervisor for the Marion County Soil & Water Conservation District, will continue his service on the board.

 

Spinal Cord & Brain Injury Research Fund Board

The Governor made one new appointment to the board, with a term expiring Nov. 30, 2022:

  • Annette Seabrook (Indianapolis), CEO at Community Rehabilitation Hospital North, will join the board.

 

Statewide Independent Living Council

The Governor appointed the following members to the council, with terms expiring Dec. 31, 2021:

  • Abagail Fleenor (Greensburg), volunteer with Life Church, will join the council.
  • Joseph Gunn (Indianapolis), graduate student at Indiana University SPEA, will join the council.
  • Erin Hall (Indianapolis), executive director of interagency relations and compliance with INDOT, will continue her service on the council.
  • Theresa Koleszar (Indianapolis), director of FSSA’s Bureau of Rehabilitation Services, will join the council.
  • Cynthia Rockwell (Wolcottville), retired attorney with Rockwell & Jansen, LLC, will continue her service on the council.
  • Tammy Themel (Greenwood), CEO of accessABILITY Center for Independent Living, Inc., will join the council.
  • Frederick Vaiana (Westfield), attorney with Voyles Vaiana Lukemeyer Baldwin & Webb, will continue his service on the council.

 

Worker’s Compensation Board

The Governor made one new appointment to the board, with a term expiring Jan. 1, 2023:

  • Sandra O’Brien (Valparaiso), attorney with Mindel & Associates, will join the board.

 

 

Split 7th Circuit: Victim hypnosis evidence wrongly withheld

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Dave Stafford for www.thendianalawyer.com

An Indiana man who was “confidently” identified as the perpetrator of an Elkhart shooting after the victim was hypnotized will be allowed to go free after a majority of the 7th Circuit granted his habeas petition. The appeals court found the state court erred in not overturning the man’s conviction because the state withheld evidence of the hypnosis during trial.

In November 1993, security guard Shane Carey was shot in the face while sitting in his car, and Mack Sims was found roughly 20 feet from where the shooting occurred. Although he had no weapons on his person, Carey identified Sims at trial as the shooter.

During his trial, the state relied almost exclusively on the only witness, Carey, who could possibly identify the shooter to establish their case against Sims. But defense counsel pointed to Carey’s discrepancies in the description of the shooter, noting it didn’t match up with Sims’ appearance at the time of his arrest. Sims was ultimately convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to 35 years’ imprisonment.

Then in a 2012 evidentiary hearing regarding a post-conviction relief petition filed by Sims, new information was revealed by then-deputy prosecuting attorney Graham Polando, who said he had consulted with Judge Charles Wick, the trial deputy at Sims’ attempted murder trial, and was asked by Wick to not disclose that Carey only identified Sims as the shooter after being hypnotized to “enhance his recollection of the shooting.”

Carey later testified that when viewing a lineup the day after the shooting, he merely stated Sims “looked like” the assailant because “at the time [he] was not extremely sure.” He also testified that Wicks suggested hypnosis, then set up the hypnosis appointment paid for by the state.

On the stand, Wicks defended not disclosing the hypnotism, asserting it was not exculpatory in nature because Carey never wavered in his identification of Sims as the shooter. The Elkhart Superior Court ultimately denied Sims’ petition for post-conviction relief, finding Carey had been able to identify Sims well before the hypnosis was administered.

When he was denied habeas relief in the remaining Indiana courts — which pointed to evidence of Carey’s in-court identification of Sims and his identification of the shooter before hypnosis — Sims filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in federal court. The district court held that the Indiana court did not unreasonably apply established federal law, but the majority of 7th Circuit disagreed in a Friday 25-page decision.

Sims’ appeal was premised on the argument that the state’s withholding of the hypnosis information was a Brady violation. The majority agreed, with Judge William J. Bauer saying the Indiana Court of Appeals saying caselaw allows admission of hypnosis-related evidence and testimony only “if the prosecution can show by clear and convincing evidence that the in-court identification has a sufficient independent factual basis.”

The issue with the COA’s analysis, Bauer said, is that when the state court determined the hypnotic evidence was admissible, it also determined that “it is not reasonably probable that the outcome of Sims’s trial would have been different had Carey’s hypnosis been disclosed.” That ruling was clear error, the majority joined by Judge David Hamilton said, finding the concealment of the hypnosis was material.

“It is not difficult to imagine what Sims’s lawyer could have done at trial with the knowledge that Carey had been hypnotized,” Bauer wrote. “The known effects of hypnosis could explain Carey’s confidence, his claim that his memory of the shooting had improved over time, and the otherwise benign changes in his descriptions of the shooter. Reasonable judges cannot be confident that, if the jury had known that Carey had been hypnotized before he identified Sims at trial, they would have found his identification beyond reasonable doubt.”

“Finally, these problems with hypnosis undercut the Indiana court’s final reason for refusing post-conviction relief: Carey’s testimony indicated he was able to identify the assailant, but hypnosis was able to make him ‘extremely sure,’” Bauer continued. “No one knows what effect the hypnosis had on Carey and it also belies the record for reasons discussed above.”

The majority thus reversed and remanded the case to the district court with instructions to grant Sims’ habeas petition. But in a 15-page dissent, Circuit Judge Amy Coney Barrett argued that although the undisclosed evidence of Carey’s hypnosis constituted aBrady violation, “it was neither contrary to, nor an unreasonable application of, clearly established federal law for the Indiana Court of Appeals to conclude otherwise.”

“Here, Carey’s hypnotically-refreshed testimony was not ‘the only evidence linking [Sims] to the crime,’” Barrett wrote. “… With a solid on-scene description, multiple untainted photo-array identifications, and an in-court identification by the victim — not to mention Sims’s suspicious behavior and proximity to the scene of the crime — a fair-minded jurist could be confident in the jury’s verdict, even if we are not.”

The majority, however, said Barrett’s argument did not “explain why Wicks felt it necessary to take the risk of setting up a hypnosis session for Carey without disclosing it.”

“Nor does it appear to take into account the instances in which Carey equivocated,” Bauer said. “Furthermore, the only indication as to when the hypnosis session took place is Carey’s testimony at the post-conviction evidentiary hearing that it was months before when he and Wicks ‘first started talking about who the perpetrator was.’”

Indiana students to get free FAFSA filing help at College Goal Sunday

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Financial aid professionals will be volunteering at Ivy Tech Community College in Evansville to help college-bound students and their families open the door to financial aid during College Goal Sunday. The event is set for 2 p.m. Feb. 24, at Ivy Tech’s Evansville campus, 3501 N. First Avenue.

The free program assists Indiana students in filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA form is required for students to be considered for federal and state grants, scholarships and student loans at most colleges, universities and vocational/technical schools nationwide. The FAFSA MUST be filed by April 15 to be eligible for Indiana financial aid. College Goal Sunday is so important because completing this required form correctly and by the deadline is sometimes perceived to be complicated and time consuming. In less than one afternoon at a College Goal Sunday event, students and their families can get free help and file the form online. “We are excited to help attendees get answers to their questions and complete their FAFSA. Hosting this bi-annual event at our campus is something we look forward to,” said Casey Trela, Ivy Tech’s director of financial aid.

Now in its 30th year, College Goal Sunday has helped more than 94,000 Indiana students and families complete the FAFSA properly and on time. College Goal Sunday is a charitable program of the Indiana Student Financial Aid Association (ISFAA).

College Goal Sunday Doubles the Help Offered

“The event on Feb. 24 will be the second College Goal Sunday ISFAA is offering this FAFSA filing season.” said Bill Wozniak, co-chair of College Goal Sunday. “We hope all Hoosiers who have not filed already, take advantage of College Goal Sunday events across Indiana, file the FAFSA, and get one step closer to fulfilling their educational goals.”

According to the Indiana Commission for Higher Education, programs like College Goal Sunday are reaching first-generation college students. In recent years, according to CHE statistics, more single-parent Hoosier families have filed for financial aid, indicating programs like College Goal Sunday are reaching high-risk students and their families.

“Students who don’t complete their financial aid paperwork properly and on time are often very disappointed when they find out how much financial aid they lost,” said Wozniak. “This is why the Indiana Student Financial Aid Association not only continues to provide College Goal Sunday, but offers two events during the year. If our assistance gives students a better chance at higher education and less debt, we’re fulfilling our mission.”

What students should bring

Students should attend College Goal Sunday with their parent(s) or guardian(s), and parents’ should bring completed 2017 IRS 1040 tax returns, W-2 Forms and other 2017 income and benefits information. Students who worked last year should bring their income information as well. Students 24 years of age or older may attend alone and bring their own completed 2017 IRS 1040 tax return, W-2 Form or other 2017 income and benefits information. Students and parents are encouraged to apply for their U.S. Department of Education FSA IDs at fsaid.ed.gov before coming to the event.

Volunteers will walk through the online form line-by-line and answer families’ individual questions as needed. All sites offer FAFSA online capabilities and many have Spanish interpreters. A complete list of sites is available at CollegeGoalSunday.org.

Attendees may win educational prizes

Students may also win one of five $1000 scholarships. Students who attend any of the College Goal Sunday sites and submit a completed evaluation form will automatically be entered in a drawing for a $1000 scholarship. The winners will be notified in April, and prizes will be sent directly to the higher education institution selected by the winning students.

 21st Century Scholars benefit

21st Century Scholars are income-eligible students who sign a contract in the seventh or eighth grade promising they will graduate from high school, meet grade point requirements, fulfill a pledge of good citizenship, and apply for college financial aid. Upon high school graduation, Scholars who have fulfilled the commitment receive state funds to help cover their college tuition and fees for eight semesters at eligible Indiana colleges. To fulfill their pledge, scholars must submit a completed FAFSA form on time. College Goal Sunday can help.

Program is a national model

College Goal Sunday originated right here in Indiana and is now a national model. Following Indiana’s example, College Goal Sunday events organized by more than 34 states have opened doors to higher education for hundreds of thousands of students all over the country.

For more information about College Goal Sunday visit CollegeGoalSunday.org. 

 

Pop-Up: World Wetlands Day Hike at Howell Wetlands  Saturday, Feb 2 – 1:30 PM

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Join Indiana Master Naturalist and WWNP volunteer Karen for a guided hike at Howell Wetlands to celebrate World Wetlands Day! Dress for the weather conditions and note that restrooms will not be available on site. In the event that inclement weather is forecast, check this event for updates.

This pop-up hike is appropriate for all ages and is offered free of charge.

Lt. Governor Crouch: Public schedule Feb. 2

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Below is Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch’s public schedule for Feb. 2, 2019.

Saturday, Feb. 2
What: Crouch speaks at 2019 Agritourism Business Conference
Host: North American Farmers’ Direct Marketing Association
When: 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m., ET, with Crouch remarks at 8:15 a.m., ET
Where: Embassy Suites, Conference Center, 13700 Conference Center Drive South, Noblesville, IN 46060

Saturday, Feb. 2
What: Crouch speaks at Purdue Ag Alumni Fish Fry
Host: Purdue University College of Agriculture
When: 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., ET, with Crouch remarks at 12:15 p.m., ET
Where: Indiana State Fairgrounds, Elements Financial Blue Ribbon Pavilion, 1202 E. 38th St., Indianapolis, IN 46205

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