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CANDIDATE FORUM TONIGHT 6:30 PM
“READERS FORUM†OCTOBER 25, 2018
We hope that today’s “READERS FORUMâ€Â 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?Â
WHATS ON YOUR MIND TODAY?
Todays“Readers Poll†question is: If the election was held today in District #2 for the Vanderburgh County School Board which two (2) would you vote for?
We would like to thank you for your support and prayers for our Publisher to have a successful heart operation and recovery. Â We are pleased to informed that Ron’s operation this morning went better than expected and he is presently in recovery.
If you would like to advertise on the CCO please contact us City-CountyObserver@live.com
Response To Retired Educator Carolyn Bennett’s Letter To CCO Editor By Anne Ennis
How Are Students Learning and Who Is Leading the Lesson?
by Ann M Ennis
Many are concerned about the Learning Sciences International (LSI) group contracted by EVSC to show our teachers how to help students self-teach.
As explained in the September 10 School Board Meeting by Dr. Smith, “LSI was a seminal point in shift to make sure that each student is responsible for his learning. We are going away from the lecture model …. The way every person in this room was taught was with teacher at front of room lecturing and we as students accepting and taking-in the information from the teacher.” …
Smith continued, “LSI brings content and delivery improvement. LSI is a perfect fit for SEL (social emotional learning model used throughout EVSC). Students have responsibility to work in groups. … We know that success with executive function skills is the most significant indicator of a student’s future success.†Executive functio includes staying on task, critical thinking, listening, collaboration and delegation.
“LSI was brought in (by EVSC) to help shift in approach to educating students,” Dr. Smith said. After the LSI contract ends, with training being provided to teachers through work-day professional development sessions, “we will be able to continue on without LSI and Mass Insight. We can continue and succeed. This is often not the case” after a contracted consultant company departs, said Dr. Smith.
Dr. Smith ended his part of the Sept. 18 meeting, by saying self-teaching and self-regulation “allow all students to develop to their maximum potential.”
In substitute teaching this fall for teachers using the self-instruction method, and in this particular week for teachers who were pulled from class for 2 days of training in the LSI method, I am concerned about the ideal versus reality of students self-teaching and self-regulating. Introducing this method at Kindergarten and taking it through to 12th grade — perhaps. But introducing this concept with 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th graders does not seem to lead to learning.
I would like more information. I would like to see a well functioning self-regulating, self-teaching, group work classroom with a first or second year teacher in a standard middle school classroom. I hope to get it after the election, no matter the result.
FOOTNOTE: This letter is posted by the CCO without opinion, bias or editing.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: STATE REPRESENTATIVE RON BEACON PRAISED FOR HIS WORK IN COMMUNITY
October 24, 2018
Dear Editor,
This past March, a tragedy occurred in our community of Spencer County. A 17 year old, Jade Yeager was killed in a car accident at a dangerous intersection outside of Rockport on her way to school.
Her father, Mike Yeager had a goal of making that intersection safer so no one else would lose their life. On his behalf, I contacted State Representative Ron Bacon to inquire on the appropriate action required to get the process started.
Ron was a valuable asset from the beginning. He has worked with INDOT over the years & contacted them immediately to see if the wreck had been reported. Ron let me know the steps to take soon after he spoke with INDOT. I stayed in regular contact with Ron until the meeting with INDOT was held at Spencer County Courthouse this past July. Â
I have come to know Ron through his involvement with Spencer & Warrick Counties. He is a man of true character that cares about people as a whole – even down to a person he never met until a tragedy occurred – he was there for Mike. Ron’s involvement to communities with his reputation has carried positive results throughout Southern Indiana even all the way to the Statehouse. Â
I hope that anyone who knows Ron or has heard of him will take the time out to thank him for the amazing job that he does representing the people of Southern Indiana.
Sincerely,
Mysti DeMarco
Rockport, INÂ
FOOTNOTE: This letter was posted by the CCO without opinion, bias or editing.
State Police Collecting Old, Unused Medicines Saturday
State Police Collecting Old, Unused Medicines Saturday
Staff Report
TheStatehouseFile.com
INDIANAPOLIS—Indiana State Police are partnering with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration on Saturday in another prescription drug take back the initiative.
Collection sites will be set up across Indiana at state police locations as well as at sites across the nation for the public to dispose of expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs. The program is aimed at preventing prescription drug abuse and theft and to get rid of the drugs safely.
This program, free and anonymous, is for liquid and pill medications. Needles, new or used, will not be accepted for disposal.
Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses. The DEA reports that studies show a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.
Disposing of unused medicines by flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash pose potential safety and health hazards.Â
As in the past, the drugs may be dropped off at any state police post, except the post at the Indiana Toll Road. Collections times Saturday will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Also, the state police will host a drop off site from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday inside the Indiana Government Center North public entrance off of Robert Orr Plaza in Indianapolis. This is between the government north and south buildings, immediately west of the State Capitol building.
To locate the state police post closest to your home or business, click this link for Indiana State Police on the Map. To find other locations in Indiana or across the U.S. that are participating in the drug take-back initiative, click this link to the DEA.
FOOTNOTE: TheStatehouseFile.com is a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.
Reversal: Claim of 165 Texts In 24 Hours Doesn’t Prove Stalking
Reversal: Claim of 165 Texts In 24 Hours Doesn’t Prove Stalking
October 24, 2018
The Indiana Court of Appeals revoked a man’s protective order against the mother of his child when it found that her excessive messaging in a 24-hour period did not constitute stalking.
M.A. and S.H. were previously involved in an intimate relationship and have one daughter together, but they remained out of contact with each other until September 2017.
Three months later, M.A. filed a petition for an order of protection, alleging that S.H. committed stalking against him by sending him 165 text messages in one day. The texts allegedly expressed anger at M.A.’s decision to have another child with someone else and at his performance as a father.
During a February 2018 hearing, M.A. only offered five text messages of the alleged 165 sent by S.H. into evidence. S.H. admitted to sending M.A. numerous messages that day, but he said that the messages in evidence did not properly reflect that they were part of a larger conversation between the two of them.
Despite S.H.’s offer to admit the entire 46-page conversation between her and M.A., the trial court sustained M.A.’s objection to its admittance. However, it did say that S.H. could submit a clean copy, but would not allow her to rip off the notated margins and submit it during that hearing.
The trial court ultimately found M.A. had shown by a preponderance of the evidence that the protective order was justified and issued the protective order.
On appeal, S.H. argued that M.A. did not present sufficient evidence to support the issuance of a protective order in his admitted text messages, and the appellate court agreed in a memorandum decision Tuesday, S.H. v. M.A. (mem. dec.), 18A-PO-526.
“Although S.H. is undoubtedly emotional in the text messages, the five messages, by themselves, do not establish ‘repeated or continuing impermissible contact’ with M.A.,†Chief Judge Nancy Vaidik wrote. “Rather, they reflect that S.H. was angry with M.A. about his parenting (or lack thereof).â€
The appellate court also found that because the admitted text messages were in fact a part of a “much larger conversation†between M.A. and S.H., and M.A. objected to the admission of the 46-page conversation, he therefore could not rely on the unadmitted text messages to prove S.H. was stalking him.
“… (H)ad Exhibit 2 been admitted, it would have been clear that the messages in Exhibit A were part of a much larger conversation between M.A. and S.H,†Vaidik continued. “As this Court has stated before, ‘mutual communication between two parties [does not qualify] as harassment within the meaning of the stalking statute.’â€
The appellate court therefore reversed the trial court’s issuance of the protective order and remanded with instructions to vacate it.
RB Announces Plans for Further Investment in the Mead Johnson Facility in Evansville
RB Announces Plans for Further Investment in the Mead Johnson Facility in Evansville
Driven by a purpose of creating healthier lives and happier homes while making a difference in the communities where it operates, RB announced today that it plans to invest $25 million to update and further increase capabilities and capacity at the Mead Johnson Nutrition facility in Evansville, with plans to create 95 new jobs in Southwest Indiana over the next five years.
“In today’s global economy, we are committed to building Indiana’s international connections and cultivating opportunities to attract new investment and jobs to the state,” Governor Eric J. Holcomb said. “As a British company with operations around the world, we are excited to welcome RB to the Indiana team as they revitalize the Mead Johnson facility in Evansville, providing good careers for Hoosiers and creating a better quality of place in southwest Indiana.”
RB is a global health and hygiene company and maker of popular consumer goods including Lysol, Mucinex, and Air Wick, which added infant nutrition brands to its health portfolio when it acquired Mead Johnson in June 2017, welcoming Evansville employees to its ranks. Since the acquisition, RB has worked to redevelop and revitalize the 44 acres of land that the facility was built on more than 100 years ago.
“Because of the support of the city of Evansville and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, RB is proud to be able to make additional investments in this vital facility that has employed nearly 800 Hoosiers over several generations,†said Art Pike, RB site director, Evansville Supply Center. “The Evansville facility is a significant manufacturing site for RB, and we are honored to continue the legacy of Mead Johnson as a partner in this community.â€
According to Steve Braun, senior vice president, RB Health, R&D, “In addition to investing $11 million dollars to improve operational efficiencies and more effectively utilize buildings located at its 1.2 million-square-foot manufacturing site, RB’s rehabilitation project will create new quality job opportunities in southwest Indiana.â€
It will also help the company achieve two important goals: first, to maintain its role as a global leader in pediatric nutrition; and second, to reduce overall costs associated with developing and manufacturing science-based pediatric nutrition products, therefore allowing the Evansville site to remain competitive.
“RB’s plans to update the former Mead Johnson Nutrition Company facility are impressive and will serve as a model for the revitalization of other industrial and corporate complexes in the region,†said Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke. “And while the project will be an economic boost to our city, it will also greatly enhance community pride.â€
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered RB up to $1.25 million in conditional tax credits based on the company’s job creation plans. Evansville City Council is considering additional incentives at the request of Growth Alliance for Greater Evansville.
Indiana is home to 80 British companies across the state, making the U.K. Indiana’s second-largest European investor and third-largest globally. Together, these companies, including RB, Rolls-Royce, British Petroleum, BAE Systems, and Tate & Lyle, support more than 12,400 jobs across the state.
About RB
RB is the global leading consumer health, hygiene, and home company. Driven by a purpose to build healthier lives and happier homes, RB has operations in over 60 countries. From the foundations of wellness and infant nutrition to the fundamentals of a hygienic home, our global brands help people live healthier, happier lives. RB has world-leading Powerbrands which include household names such as Enfamil, Nutramigen, Nurofen, Strepsils, Gaviscon, Mucinex, Durex, Scholl, Clearasil, Lysol, Dettol, Veet, Harpic, Cillit Bang, Mortein, Finish, Vanish, Calgon, Woolite and Air Wick. RB’s unique culture is at the heart of its success. Its drive to achieve, passion to outperform and commitment to quality and scientific excellence is manifested in the work of over 40,000 RB employees worldwide.
About Growth Alliance for Greater Evansville
The Growth Alliance leads Vanderburgh County’s economic development efforts assisting companies with growth plans in and into Vanderburgh County. The Growth Alliance manages many initiatives, including investment-based tax incentives for new and existing companies, management of Evansville’s business incubator–Innovation Pointe; fostering entrepreneurship in Vanderburgh County. For more information about the Growth Alliance, visit growthallianceevv.com.
Media Contacts:Â
Lynn Kenney (RB) – 973.404.2494 or Lynn.Kenney@rb.comÂ
Ella Johnson-Watson (City of Evansville) – 812.436.4962 or ejohnsonwatson@evansville.in.gov
Erin Sweitzer (IEDC) – 317.296.2556 or esweitzer@iedc.in.gov
Indiana Students To Get Free FAFSA Filing Help At College Goal Sunday
Financial aid professionals will be volunteering at Ivy Tech Community College Evansville and 38 other sites in Indiana 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. (local time), October 28, 2018.
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 since 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.
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 October 28th will be one of two College Goal Sundays 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.â€
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.â€
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 December, 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. Uponhigh 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 modelCollege 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.
‘Unusually High’ Turnout In First Two Days Of Early Voting In Nevada
Only two days of early voting in Nevada are in the books, but the record-setting numbers signify an “unusually high†midterm election turnout.
Nearly 70,000 voters statewide cast their ballots on Saturday and Sunday, compared to about 27,000 voters at this point during the 2014 midterm election. Of the votes cast, nearly 32,000 have come from registered Democrats and more than 25,000 from registered Republicans.
“I think you’re going to see the good Democratic turnout,†said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics. “Overall it seems like voter turnout is going to be higher than usual. It’s not surprising to me that the turnout is high because I think the interest is high as well.â€
Kondik said a mix of factors are behind the record-setting numbers for a non-presidential election, although voters are not hitting the polls as they did in 2016 when more than 92,000 ballots were cast on the first two days — and 339,000 in the first week — of early voting
In 2014, nationwide voter turnout was abysmally low — 37 percent — the lowest for a midterm since 1942.
Nevada saw 45 percent turnout four years ago, despite having no Senate race and a popular governor running for re-election, so more voters are expected with more attention focused on the top of the ballot, Kondik said.
“Nevada went from basically having no high-profile statewide races in 14, to two high-profile statewide races in 18,†he said.
More broadly, there’s a great deal of interest in politics, Kondik said. Nevada’s numbers are not unique.
“People are dismayed about what’s going on,†he said. “And not holding the White House can spur a turnout from the out party.â€
The popularity of early voting also is catching on.
“In places where they have access to early voting, voters are increasingly taking advantage of that option,†Kondik said. “It’s an organic growth in the use of early voting as voters become more accustomed to it over time.â€
A report from the Election Administration and Voting Survey revealed that the number of early voting ballots increased from about 10 million in 2004 to just over 24 million in 2016.
In Clark County, voters cast 54,177 ballots in the first two days of the two-week early voting period compared to 17,512 in 2014. Statewide in 2014, 111,8111 ballots were cast during the first week of early voting.
“The turnout has been great,†said Joe Gloria, Clark County’s registrar of voters. “Voters are obviously excited about this election and they’re getting out to express their voice in the community by voting.â€
He said everything has gone well and that no major problems have been reported. Wait times change throughout the day, Gloria said, and voters have been patient.
He said the malls are better prepared to handle large volumes of people, while the neighborhood sites have a smaller number of machines.
“We put out as many machines as we can to keep the process going as efficiently as possible,†he said.