|
HOT JOBS IN EVANSVILLE
May Indiana Employment Report
Unemployment rate remains unchanged over the month at 3.2 percent
 Indiana’s unemployment rate stands at 3.2 percent for May and remains lower than the national rate of 3.8 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 four 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 15,928 over the previous month. This was a result of a 2,659 increase in unemployed residents and an increase of 13,269 employed residents. Indiana’s total labor force, which includes both Hoosiers employed and those seeking employment, stands at 3.33 million, and the state’s 64.3 percent labor force participation rate remains above the national rate of 62.7 percent.
In addition, Indiana’s initial unemployment insurance claims continue to be at historical lows.
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 26,600 over the year, and has increased by 1,300 over the previous month, primarily due to gains in the Financial Activities (1,300) and the Trade, Transportation and Utilities (1,100) sectors. Gains were partially offset by losses in the Leisure and Hospitality (-1,900) and the Construction (-1,000) sectors. Total private employment stands at 2,701,800 and is 12,900 above the December 2017 peak.
Midwest Unemployment Rates
 Â
EDITOR’S NOTES:
Data are sourced from May Current Employment Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics – U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
May employment data for Indiana Counties, Cities and MSAs will be available Monday, June 18, 2018, at noon (EDT) pending U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics validation.
Results of DCS outside assessment to be released Monday
IL for www.theindianalawyer.com
Key findings from an outside assessment of Indiana’s Department of Child Services will be released Monday, when representatives from the Child Welfare Policy and Practice Group will present the results of the assessment requested by Gov. Eric Holcomb.
Holcomb asked for the DCS study after former director Mary Beth Bonaventura abruptly resigned, accusing Holcomb of cutting funds and putting children’s lives at risk.
“I have followed your (Holcomb) instructions and attempted to reduce our budget in any way that does not impact child safety,†Bonaventura wrote in what has been described as a “scathing” resignation letter. “However, the chief of staff, upon direction from OMB and SBA, is bent on slashing our budget in ways that all but ensure children will die.â€
During the 2018 session of the Indiana General Assembly, Democrats repeatedly called for an investigation of the agency. Republican leadership refused, saying they wanted to wait until CWG had finished its review, but the Legislative Council has since agreed to assign the department to an interim study committee for further review.
The findings will be released at an invitation-only event at 1:30 p.m. June 18 in the Indiana Government Center auditorium, 302 W. Washington St., Indianapolis. The presentation and remarks will be live-streamed online for all Hoosiers to view. Holcomb and DCS Director Terry Stigdon, who was appointed to lead the department after Bonaventura’ resignation, will address the findings during the presentation.
ELLIS PARK SPOTLIGHT: JOCKEY JACK GILLIGAN
Hard work paid off for jockey with breakout 2017 meet at Ellis Park;
‘First couple of years, it didn’t like me so much. Last year that all changed. I loved it and can’t wait to go back’ – jockey Jack Gilligan
Jack Gilligan is one of Kentucky’s up-and-coming jockeys, finishing third in the 2017 Ellis Park jockey standings with 16 victories. The 21-year-old Gilligan will be at Ellis Park’s Call to the Post Media Day on Monday, June 18 at 11 a.m. Central in the clubhouse’s second-floor Gardenia Room. Also: trainers Buff Bradley, John Hancock, Jason Barkley and Tom Van Berg, along with track officials, as we preview the upcoming meet, July 1-Labor Day.
You had a really good meet at Ellis Park last summer.
“It was my breakout meet, really. My agent, Liz Morris, and I worked really hard last spring and it really paid off. Looking forward to Ellis this year, and hopefully I can build upon it. I had a great meet at the Fair Grounds (over the winter), my first year there and I had 28 wins. Love it down there. And so far this has been my best meet at Churchill, with eight wins (through June 16) so far.â€
What was the key to the Ellis meet? An outfit you were riding for, a horse? Your agent being relentless?
“A lot of it was my agent being relentless. All of May and June of last year, we didn’t ride an awful lot here at Churchill but I was breezing a lot (in the mornings). I was breezing eight a day, nearly, just working our butts off. Everybody just kind of gave us our shot at Ellis. All the trainers that we’d been breezing horses for, they said, ‘We can’t really help you at Churchill just yet, but we’ll help you at Ellis.’ It worked out great. I had a great Ellis meet.â€
So how many years have you been riding?
“A total of five years. I rode for a year in England. I left school and came here and have been in America for going on four years now. In England you graduate at 16, went to the British Racing School for about six months and then started race riding.â€
What brought you to America?
“My dad is actually an American citizen. He was born in New York but his family moved back to England when he was very young. He’s got an American passport, so that’s always meant my mum and I could get a green card. My dad was a trainer in England. Toward the end, his business wasn’t going so good. I’d rode for a year, and things were going OK but nothing amazing. The three of us — my, my mum and my dad — wanted a change and thought it was an opportunity to come over here, because visas are hard to get and I had this lucky opportunity to have a green card. We thought we’d give it a shot. In the beginning, we thought we’d give it six months and see how it went. We came over and we loved it. Things started going good, so we stayed.
“When I first came over, I rode a little bit at Indiana Grand, Belterra (in Cincinnati). I’d come over in August of 2014. I started out at Turfway Park, and finished second in the standings.â€
Why did you come to this area?
“I actually did the British Racing School while I was in (regular) school. When I was 14 and 15, I did this special course, one day a week I’d go to the British Racing School. My friend and I were the two best students, and they did a student exchange with the North American Racing Academy when (retired riding great) Chris McCarron was running it. I spent a week here and I loved it. After I left, I stayed in touch with Chris. Before I came over here, he said, ‘You should just come here. We can get you set away with a gallop (exercise rider) job and get you started.’ That’s why I came back to Lexington. Chris helped me get going and put me in the right direction.â€
Put in perspective how tough it is to get going when you don’t know any of the horsemen.
“Yeah, Chris was the only person I knew here. It’s very hard in the very beginning but you get familiarized very quickly. You’re working so many horses. I came in August and by December I was riding six, seven a day at Turfway.
“It is very different, to get used to the track work. It’s very different in Europe. You’re out riding on long straight tracks (in training). Riding counterclockwise is very different. The terminology is very different. In England at Newmarket, where I was from, a set (training with a horse) could be an hour, an hour and a half: We warm up, gallop, take them through the woods and let them pick the grass on the way home. The most you can get on is five a day. When you’re an apprentice over there, you’re basically the groom, the hotwalker and the exercise rider. You do all the work in the morning, muck the stalls, brush them, look after everything, ride them and then you clean up in the shedrow afterward and come back in the afternoon and do the same thing again: hay, water, feed, clean the stalls, brush them, groom them. It’s good because it does make you a complete horseman that way.
“But it’s hard. That was probably another reason why I left. I was tired of mucking stalls!… I was an apprentice over there to Sir Mark Prescott. He’s a pretty well-respected trainer at Newmarket. I was an apprentice for a year but rode only four winners in Europe. I only rode about 40 races in England in my first year. It’s done differently over there. You start off with 40 races, then the next year you might get 100 mounts, then 200-300. Most of the people have their ‘bug’ (weight allowances for apprentice jockeys) about four years. Once you reach 95 wins, you lose your bug. I came over here, and I hadn’t ridden my fifth winner, so my bug hadn’t started. It was like my sixth race over here that I won my first race in America, which probably wasn’t the best thing to happen, really. Because I hadn’t gotten really super-used to the riding here, and all of a sudden my (apprenticeship) time had started. But it worked good. I had an OK bug. I was riding Keeneland, Churchill, Ellis, Turfway and rode 53 winners.â€
What did you think of Ellis Park first time you rode there?
“To be honest, the first year I didn’t do that good there. I had kind of a love-hate relationship. I went in there thinking it would go well, and it didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. The next year, it was the same sort of thing. But I always liked it. I like the old rustic-ness of it. I’ve always liked the track. I think it’s one of the best dirt tracks in America. It can be a little speed-biased, but it’s very safe. I like riding the turf track as well.
“But the first couple of years, it didn’t like me so much. Last year that all changed. I loved it last year and can’t wait to go back.â€
Indiana Conservation Officers recover victim of possible drowning in Blue River (Harrison Co.) Â
(Depauw/Milltown) Indiana Conservation Officers are investigating a drowning incident that happened around 5:45 p.m. yesterday evening near Milltown.
Recovery of the victim, Albert “Neal†Barger, 48, of New Albany was made this morning at 10:52 a.m. Barger, who had little swimming experience, was not wearing a life jacket when the incident occurred.
At 5:50 p.m. yesterday, a 911 call was placed advising that the victim went missing after he and another member of the paddling group capsized their canoe. Indiana Conservation Officers and other responders arrived on scene and a recovery effort was started around 6:00 p.m. Dive efforts and surface searches were unsuccessful and suspended around 11:00 p.m. Saturday.
The search resumed this morning at 7:00 a.m., and using two types of side scan sonar, officers were able to pinpoint the victim’s location. ICO Public Safety Divers made the recovery.
Also assisting on scene were units from the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department, Milltown Police Department, Milltown Volunteer Fire Department, Ramsey Volunteer Fire Department, Harrison County EMS, and the American Red Cross.
Indiana Conservation Officers strongly urge everyone to always wear a lifejacket when around water, especially if swimming ability and or water conditions are questionable. The investigation is ongoing and additional information will be provided once it becomes available.
Otters drop series finale to Beach Bums
The Evansville Otters were unable to complete the three-game sweep of the Traverse City Beach Bums Sunday afternoon as Traverse City bested Evansville 5-2 at Bosse Field.
Mike Rizzitello opened the scoring for the Otters in the bottom of the second inning with a two-run triple, his second three-base hit of the season.
Traverse City tied the game in the top of the fifth when a David Cronin fielding error allowed two runs to score.
With the game still tied in the eighth, Kendall Patrick hit a two-run double off the right field wall to put the Beach Bums in front 4-2.
Traverse City tacked on an insurance run in the top of the ninth on an Arby Field RBI single to right.
Matt Williams came on for the ninth and tossed a scoreless inning to earn his third save of the season as the Beach Bums claimed the 5-2 victory.
Sean Adler gets the loss for the Otters, his third of the season. Adler allowed two runs in an inning of work.
John Havird gets the win for Traverse City as he threw seven innings, allowing just two runs while punching out six.
Otters starter Luc Rennie is dealt the no-decision after throwing seven innings and giving up two unearned runs while striking out five.
Following an off-day on Monday, the Otters will travel to Florence, Kentucky to square off with the Florence Freedom in a three-game series June 19-21.
Otters take second straight game against Traverse City
The Evansville Otters won their second consecutive game against the Traverse City Beach Bums 5-3 behind timely hitting and four innings of scoreless relief from the bullpen on Saturday evening at Bosse Field in front of 2,617 fans.
Evansville scored the first run of the game in the second inning. Luis Vilorio ripped a single to left, and an error by the left fielder allowed Joe Lytle to score all the way to first.
Traverse City scored two in the third to take the lead. A sacrifice fly from Alexi Rivera tied the game and a subsequent wild pitch allowed Isaac Benard to score from third and give Traverse City the 2-1 lead.
Will Kengor extended the Beach Bums lead with a solo home run in the top of the fifth.
Evansville roared back to take the lead in the bottom of the frame. A bases loaded walk to Jeff Gardner put the Otters within one and the subsequent batter Travis Harrison cleared the bases with a three-run double to put the Otters ahead 5-3.
That would be all the offense the Otters needed as the bullpen pitched four shutout innings to seal the 5-3 victory.
Mitch Aker came on in the ninth and tossed a perfect inning to earn his twelfth save.
Otters starter Tyler Vail worked five innings and allowed three runs while striking out four and walking six and earned his first victory of the season.
Reinaldo Lopez is handed the loss for the Beach Bums after throwing six innings and allowing five runs, four earned, while giving up seven hits and striking out three.
The Otters will go for the sweep of the Beach Bums tomorrow at 2:05 p.m. at Bosse Field.
Sunday is a family fun day which for $40 includes four general admission tickets, four popcorn, snow cone, and soda vouchers plus two inflatable passes.
