| Customers to expect same level of safe and reliable service | ||
| Early this morning, CenterPoint Energy and Vectren Corporation announced they have entered into a definitive merger agreement, to form a leading energy delivery, infrastructure and services company serving more than 7 million customers across the United States.
CenterPoint Energy is a domestic energy delivery company that includes electric transmission & distribution, natural gas distribution and energy services operations. The company serves more than 5 million metered customers primarily in Arkansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, CenterPoint has nearly 8,000 employees. I want to ensure you and all customers that this agreement will have no impact on you or your energy service while this transaction progresses toward closing, and we will continue to reliably and safely serve our 1.2 million gas and electric customers now and well into the future as the newly combined company moves forward. Today’s news marks the next chapter for Vectren and its subsidiary companies. CenterPoint is the right partner because they demonstrate the values and commitment to customers and communities long demonstrated by Vectren. Together, we will be a stronger, more competitive company that will be well-positioned to continue to provide value for all of our stakeholders in the years to come. CenterPoint is committed to all of Vectren’s stakeholders as evidenced by the terms of this agreement: • The combined company’s natural gas utilities operations will be headquartered in Evansville, Ind., where Vectren utility operations are currently based today; the combined utility will serve ~4.5 million natural gas customers in eight states. • Indiana electric operations will remain headquartered in Evansville; CenterPoint will establish a chief business officer for Vectren’s electric business, who will directly report to CenterPoint’s CEO and spearhead southwestern Indiana’s electric grid modernization and generation transition initiatives recently underway. • In addition to utility field employees, CenterPoint Energy will retain key operational activities in support of the utilities in Evansville. • The Vectren Foundation will remain based in Evansville, and employee volunteerism and grants will continue within the communities we serve. In fact, CenterPoint will fund the Foundation at an additional $3 million per year over the next five years (once the transaction is closed). • Vectren and CenterPoint have made significant commitments to employees to preserve opportunities as the integration process gets underway. The transaction must be approved by several federal regulatory agencies, and Vectren’s shareholders and other customary closing conditions must be satisfied before the parties can close. The parties will also make regulatory filings in Indiana and Ohio. This process will take several months and the parties are targeting closing the transaction by the first quarter of 2019. As you can imagine, we are actively communicating with a number of stakeholders, and our focus is very much on the customers we serve and our employees who help deliver that service. We pledge to continue to keep you updated as this integration process moves forward. Today is the beginning of a bright future for the evolution of our company, and we are optimistic about becoming part of the CenterPoint Energy family. Regards, Carl Chapman |
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Vectren And CenterPoint Energy Announce Merger Of Companies
SPOTLIGHT: MEET RICK MARTIN PATENT, TRADEMARK AND COPYWRITE ATTORNEY
Since Rick was a kid he enjoyed taking things apart to find out how they work. While this “skill†might have been annoying to his mom when it came time to vacuum, it’s a great asset to inventors who need someone to figuratively tear their idea apart and put it into words that the patent office understands – something he also knows a lot about, since he previously worked as a patent examiner at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. For over 25 years, Rick has been helping entrepreneurs and businesses protect their ideas, inventions, and identities through patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets and related contracts, licenses and agreements.
Occasionally when he takes something apart and put it back together, there are parts left over – something he likes to refer to as “improvements.†While some may consider this claim dubious – particularly when the “improvement†he made to his bicycle after a cycling trip to France resulted in his being launched over the handlebars on his first ride back in the States – he’s constantly improving the intellectual property portfolios of his clients, bringing value to their ideas, inventions and identities. He regularly advises and assists clients in identifying and protecting inventions with patents as well as navigating the minefield of competitor patents that may affect their ability to commercialize their ideas. Rick has obtained hundreds of patents for inventors in a variety of fields, including timing systems, mine safety devices, broadband antennas, RFID, electronics, ranging, oil & gas, semiconductors, and other mechanical and electro-mechanical devices. He has also worked with clients to acquire, protect and enforce their rights to valuable trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets.
Rick holds a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University – Boiler Up!, and a J.D. from Catholic University Columbus School of Law School in Washington, D.C. After working for large law firms in Texas, his fierce independence got the best of him and he decided to return to his Midwestern roots where he founded Martin IP Law Group.
EDITORS FOOTNOTES: Martin IP Law Group is not a typical law firm.  Their practice focuses on Intellectual Property – Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, and Trade Secrets. They will help you build value in your business by protecting your ideas, inventions, and identity, including:
- Identifying and assessing the value of intellectual property;
- Preparing and prosecuting the US and International patent and trademark applications.
- Preparing freedom-to-operate opinions, validity/invalidity opinions and infringement/ non-infringement opinions.
- Conducting due diligence of third-party IP portfolios for acquisition, litigation and/or design-around.
- Conducting negotiations and drafting agreements relating to assignment, licensing, and other transactions affecting the intellectual property.
-  If you have any questions concerning Patents | Trademarks | Copyrights please contact Mr. Martin at 318 Main Street | Suite 503 | Evansville, IN 47708 ( 812.492.4478  | rick@ipsolutionslaw.com or |www.IPSolutionsLaw.com
Otters to host Education Day games May 2 and May 9
The Evansville Otters will host two Education Day games during the 2018 exhibition schedule on May 2 at 11 a.m. and May 9 at 10 a.m.
Schools wanting to attend must register ahead of game date. Registration is still open for both games.
To register, schools can fill out the appropriate registration form and submit to the Evansville Otters front office by mailing to 23 Don Mattingly Way, Evansville, IN 47711, email to jroos@evansvilleotters.com, fax 812-435-8688, or drop off the forms at the Bosse Field front office Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Activity booths will be available throughout the ballpark thanks to partners of the Evansville Otters, including the Children’s Museum of Evansville, Evansville-Vanderburgh Public Library, Boys and Girls Club, 4C of Southern Indiana, Wesselman’s Park and Nature Preserve, and Junior Achievement. They will be offering a variety of educational games, activities and promotions.
Last season, area schools packed the stands and the 5,263 fans in attendance helped record the highest Education Day crowd in the 24-year history of the Otters’ franchise.
The Otters are looking forward to having fans join the affordable, family fun this season at historic Bosse Field.
The Evansville Otters are the 2006 and 2016 Frontier League champions. Season tickets, group outing packages, and single game tickets are on sale now for the 2018 season.
A Trap For Fools by Jim Redwine
When I set out to trap whatever varmints were stealing our cat’s food I felt confident. After all, I was pretty sure my adversaries were not members of any “… well-regulated militia†nor graduates of any accredited educational institutions nor associated with any liberal or right-wing political groups. I, on the other hand, have had experience surviving struggles with all of these. As to a well-regulated militia, the United States Air Force should qualify no matter what our U.S. Army soldier son thinks and Indiana University is respected if football is not considered. When it comes to the mish-mash of current political “thoughtâ€, I have managed to avoid or ignore the clanging vapidness of extremists on all sides. Anyway, I counted myself as at least equal to raccoons, opossums, skunks and our only neighbors’ straying house pets. But as coach and television sports analyst Lee Corso might say, “Not so fast, Jimâ€. Apparently in the war of wits between the purloining pests I am not sufficiently armed. A few weeks ago when I finally figured out our once feral cat was upset his morning meal kept going missing I contacted my friend Paul Axton who is a Department of Natural Resources Officer. Paul brought me out a trap and showed me how to use it; this took some patience on his part. As instructed I baited it with giant marshmallows (who knew?) and set it beside the cat’s food tray. My first and only catch was our cat. He was not amused and still tries to claw my hand when I put his food out. The way this trap is supposed to work one baits it and when a thief enters the trap seeking a marshmallow a metal plate is tripped by the weight of the animal and the only door falls behind it. Unfortunately, our cat is the only animal dumb enough for this to work. On the other hand, perhaps I have furnished enough marshmallows to whatever stealthy animal miscreant is gorging itself on sugar it will catch diabetes. However, it is probably more likely to die laughing at my efforts as it dines at my expense. What this whole imbroglio brings to my mind is one of my favorite poems by Rudyard Kipling entitled If. One of the lines goes something like this (apologies to Kipling): If you can bear to see your plans twisted by varmints to make a trap |
Rosedale Theatre A by Pat Sides
The Rosedale Theatre was one of several neighborhood movie houses built in Evansville in the early twentieth century. It opened in early 1928 in the 1300 block of Division Street, deriving its name from the Rosedale neighborhood, a largely quiet, working-class residential district.
At that time, the building had the second largest seating capacity of any theater in the city. Rosedale closed in the 1950s, but was remodeled and opened as Theatre A in 1968 by new owner Larry Aiken, who built an adjoining restaurant for movie-goers.
The old theater featured art and second-run films, changing owners once before Aiken repurchased it several years later. In the 1980s, the restaurant expanded into the old theater building and became The Pub.
This Week at USI
5 p.m. Monday, April 23
Taylor to speak on his “Political Life†at MPA event
The University of Southern Indiana Master of Public Administration Program will host a presentation from D’Angelo Taylor, assistant director of the USI Multicultural Center, at 5 p.m. Monday, April 23 in Kleymeyer Hall located in the USI Liberal Arts Center. Taylor’s presentation will be free and open to the public. Taylor’s presentation will draw from his 2016 book, A Political Life: Black Culture, Civic Engagement, Education and Hope, which chronicles “how an inner-city kid beat the odds by using politics as his foundation.†Read More
Friday, April 27 and Saturday, April 28
USI to hold Spring Commencement for Class of 2018 on April 27 and 28
The University of Southern Indiana will hold five Spring Commencement ceremonies over two days, April 27 and 28, in the Physical Activities Center (PAC) on the USI campus. The Graduate Ceremony for master and doctoral degree candidates from all of USI’s colleges will be held at 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 27. On Saturday, April 28, the undergraduate ceremony for the Romain College of Business will begin at 9 a.m.; the College of Liberal Arts at noon; Pott College of Science, Engineering, and Education at 3 p.m., and the College of Nursing and Health Professions at 6 p.m. Read More
Open through Sunday, April 29
48th Annual University of Southern Indiana Juried Student Art Show
The 48th Annual University of Southern Indiana Juried Student Art Show is on display through Sunday, April 29 in the Kenneth P. McCutchan Art Center/Palmina F. and Stephen S. Pace Galleries, located in the lower level of the Liberal Arts Center on the USI campus. Over $9,000 in merit awards, scholarships and USI Art Collection purchase awards were awarded to students, and 178 art and design works were selected from 432 artworks entered. Read More
Classes end Wednesday, May 2
Finals Week and end of spring 2018 semester
No classes will be held on Wednesday, April 25 in order for students to prepare for final exams. Finals will begin on Thursday, April 26 and conclude on Wednesday, May 2.
Open through Friday, May 25
New Harmony Gallery opens new exhibition, Middle Ground
The New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art is hosting a new exhibition, Middle Ground, April 14 through May 25. The exhibition features the work of Kate Burnet, Amelia Volwiler-Stanley and Dan Woerner from Bloomington, Indiana. Dan Woerner and Kate Burnet construct narratives through their animated videos, drawings and installations by weaving together memories of the past with our prospects for the future from fragments of pop culture and other detritus. The exhibition is free and open to the public. Read More
Lanza, Fantoni Earns Places on Team Brazil for Pan Pacific Championships
Indiana University swimmers Vini Lanza and Gabriel Fantoni were each earned a spot on Team Brazil for the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships in Tokyo this August.
This past week at the 2018 Maria Lenk Trophy in Brazil, both swimmers had outstanding performances to earn their spots on Team Brazil.
Lanza won a pair of events, the 100m butterfly (51.42) and the 200m IM (1:58.10). The rising senior also took fourth in the 50m butterfly (23.67) and fifth in the 200m butterfly (1:58.10).
Fantoni made his mark in the backstroke events, winning the 100m back with a time of 54.07. He also placed second in the 50m back (25.14) and fourth in the 200m back (2:01.61.). The rising sophomore also won the Consolation Final of the 100m butterfly with a time of 53.31.
Established in the mid-1980’s, the Pan Pacific Championships are held under the oversight of the Pan Pacific Swimming Association. The Association is made up of the four founding swimming federations – Swimming Australia, Swimming Canada, the Japan Amateur Swimming Federations and USA Swimming.
These charter nations developed the concept of the swimming competition to provide their national teams with first-class international competition between the two major international swimming competitions – the Olympic Games and the FINA World Championships.
Along with the two swimmers for Team Brazil, IU head swimming coach Ray Looze will serve as the head men’s coach for Team USA at the Pan Pacific Championships. Swimmers will qualify for the U.S. roster at the 2018 Phillips 66 National Championships, slated for July 25-29 in Irvine, Calif.
Infant & Toddler Playground Ribbon Cutting and Earth Day Celebration
2 p.m. – 3p.m., Monday, April 23
Carver Community Organization
400 SE 8th Street, Evansville, IN
Carver Community Organization will host a ribbon cutting ceremony with the Southwestern Indiana Chamber of Commerce to debut the new Infant & Toddler Playground as well as an Earth Day Celebration for a new recycling initiative. In 2017, the City of Evansville Endowment Fund awarded Carver the grant to construct the new playground which will add an additional 900 square feet of usable space. The new Infant & Toddler Playground is a welcome addition as Carver continues the process of becoming NAEYC accredited. Tours of the Day Care & Preschool will be available to attendees as well as an overview of the recycling initiative being conducted by Carver’s After School Program. The program begins at 2:00 p.m., there should be good visuals for active video and photography.
Contact at the Event: David Wagner, Carver Community Organization Executive Director; Jalessa Eskridge, Carver Community Organization Development Associate; or Deiona Clayton, Carver Community Organization Day Care & Preschool Director.