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? 

WHATS ON YOUR MIND TODAY?

Todays“Readers Poll” question is: Who do you feel should pay for the $100,000 overtime pay incurred by the Evansville Police Department for security provided during President Trump visit?

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The problem started more than a year ago when Alcoa requested to expand its operations at Liberty Mine. The expansion would be just a few hundred feet away from a new and developing subdivision in the outskirts of Boonville.

Homeowners in that neighborhood were less than thrilled with what the mines would bring to their small and quiet community. They were worried about quality of life and the safety of the many children in the neighborhood.

The homeowners created ‘Save Our Homes’ to help with the fight. They wanted more seismic monitors, an increased blast radius and other protections like insurance.

City officials in Boonville seemed to have heard their plight and ended up passing an ordinance that restricted mining within three miles of city limits. Alcoa tried to fight the ordinance, saying that Boonville couldn’t make ordinances that directly effect other jurisdictions.

All of the problems are now a thing of the past. Over the last couple of months folks with Save Our Homes and Boonville officials met with Alcoa and Liberty Mine officials. They were able to come to an agreement on many of the issues the homeowners brought up. As well, Boonville’s mining ordinance has been taken off the books.

Before the project moves forward a consent decree has to be entered by Warrick County Superior Court 2.

The product mined at Liberty will directly to fueling Alcoa’s Warrick Power Plant. It is unclear when the planned expansion will go into effect.

After an exhaustive search, a new Director of the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) was identified and has accepted an offer to lead the ILEA through the year 2022, with an option for the contract to be extended upon mutual agreement.  The new director, Mr. Tim Horty, will be a familiar face and name to many longtime residents of the Greater Indianapolis area.

Many lifetime residents of Indianapolis, as well as long serving law enforcement professionals, recall Director Horty’s 26 years of service to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department from 1981 through 2007.  Horty started his law enforcement career as an Indiana University Police Officer from 1977 to 1980 as he was attending Indiana University where he obtained degrees as a Bachelor of Arts in Forensic Studies and a Master of Education.

During Director Horty’s tenure with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department he had a number of assignments, inclusive of uniform patrol, vice and service at the training academy. Horty also served as a Patrol Lieutenant, a Mounted Unit supervisor and as a Deputy Chief for the East and West Districts of Indianapolis.  Horty is most remembered by the public for his service as a Public Information Officer for three different Chiefs of IMPD.

After retiring from IMPD Director Horty joined the The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana, located in downtown Indianapolis, where he served as the Law Enforcement Coordinator and Public Affairs Officer for more than 11 years from 2007 until November of 2018 when he resigned to accept the Director’s position with the ILEA.

Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter, who, by Indiana Code, also serves as Chairman of the Indiana Law Enforcement Training Board (ILETB) which is the governing body of the ILEA said, “Tim is exceptionally well qualified – by his formal education and his exemplary years of law enforcement experience – to shepherd the ILEA into a new era of training excellence.”  Carter concluded, “His leadership, organizational and consensus building skills combined with his level headed matter-of-fact approach to problem solving make him an ideal fit to be the Director of the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy.”

Horty has been married to his wife, Mary for 35 years.  He and Mary have two adult children and one grandchild.  In his free time Director Horty enjoys volunteering at his church, hunting, triathlon competitions and wood working.

For more information about the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy, visit this link.

For a list of the Board Members of the Indiana Law Enforcement Training Board, visit this link.

Private Sector Employment Reaches Preliminary Record Peak

Indiana’s unemployment rate stands at 3.5 percent for October and remains lower than the national rate of 3.7 percent. With the exception of one month when it was equal (October 2014), Indiana’s unemployment rate now has been below the U.S. rate for more than five years. The monthly unemployment rate is a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicator that reflects the number of unemployed people seeking employment within the prior four weeks as a percentage of the labor force.

Indiana’s labor force had a net increase of 5,303 over the previous month. This was a result of a 2,411 increase in unemployed residents and an increase of 2,892 employed residents. Indiana’s total labor force, which includes both Hoosiers employed and those seeking employment, stands at 3.40 million, and the state’s 65.1 percent labor force participation rate remains above the national rate of 62.9 percent.

Learn more about how unemployment rates are calculated here: http://www.hoosierdata.in.gov/infographics/employment-status.asp.

Employment by Sector

Private sector employment has grown by more than 25,500 over the year, and has increased by 3,400 over the previous month, primarily due to gains in the Private Educational and Health Services (2,500) and the Construction (1,500) sectors. Gains were partially offset by losses in the Leisure and Hospitality (-2,500) and the Other (-100), which includes Mining and Logging, IT and Other Services sectors. Total private employment reached a preliminary record highpoint of 2,713,200, which is 24,300 above the official December 2017 peak. The new October 2018 peak, like all data within this report, is subject to monthly revisions and annual benchmarking. In addition, preliminary Construction jobs are at the highest level since April 2008.

Midwest Unemployment Rates

  

EDITOR’S NOTES:

Data are sourced from October Current Employment Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics – U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

October employment data for Indiana Counties, Cities and MSAs will be available Monday, Nov. 19, 2018, at noon (Eastern) pending U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics validation.