sting a public benefit show featuring the award-winning Will Read and Sing for Food (WRASFF) troupe to raise money for EVSC’s arts programming on Friday, April 20 at 7 p.m., at Central High School Auditorium (5400 North First Ave, Evansville, IN 47710)

WRASFF offers audiences a unique mix of live music and humor essays. Since 2011, WRASFF has raised over $139,000 for 40-some charities in southern Indiana. The show earned a 2016 arts award from the Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana.

Special musical guest is singer-songwriter Jason Wilber, who is the long-time lead guitarist for folk legend John Prine. Rolling Stone Magazine named Wilber one of the “10 New Country Artists You Need to Know,” after the release of his 2017 album, “Reaction Time.”

Wilber’s TV and radio appearances include Late Night with Seth Meyers, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, The Colbert Report, The Grand Ole Opry, Live with Regis and Kathy Lee, CNN Entertainment Week, Mountain Stage, Austin City Limits, The Late Show with David Letterman, and Live From Here with Chris Thile.

Other WRASFF guest musicians include The Cold Stare’s front man Chris Tapp, reggae musician Zion, Shawn Needham, John Gibson & Peggy Pirro, and The Song Show’s Brick Briscoe.

Other performers and writers include humor columnist Scott Saalman (WRASFF founder and host), Kate McKinney, Leslie Hamby, Que Pasa Midwest podcast’s Paola Marizan, and local TV personality Ange Humphrey.

Mary Allen, owner of Sixth Street Soapery and Evansville Pedicab and winner of this year’s Evansville Leadership Individual Award, will read a brief story from her podcast, The Mary Movement, which highlights the good in humanity.

From Carnegie Hall to the London Palladium and throughout an endless stream of well-known venues in North America — Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn.; Wolf Trap in Virginia; Massey Hall in Canada; and Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado — Wilber has backed up Prine for more than 20 years. He appears on Prine’s Grammy-nominated and Grammy-winning albums.

Wilber, who lives in Bloomington, Ind., will be spending most of this spring and summer touring to promote Prine’s new album, “The Tree of Forgiveness.” In between Prine gigs, Wilber promotes his own music.

Tapp is front man for The Cold Stares, a hard-rocking, soul-lifting band formed in 2008. The two-man band has played at Piano’s in New York City, the Viper Room in Hollywood’s Sunset Strip, festivals, and recently opened for Grand Funk Railroad and Cracker at the Lincoln Amphitheatre.

Dominica West Indies native Zion, now living in Evansville, has opened for The Wailers (of Bob Marley fame) and tours inside and outside the U.S. He will be backed up by Needham.

Wilber, Tapp, Zion, Needham and Briscoe are frequent guest performers of WRASFF

Admission is a $10 donation. Tickets may be purchased at the door or by calling (812)435-0934 or online at http://evscfoundation.org/give-today/(memo: Will Read and Sing for Food).

This will be WRASFF’s 135^th show. Sponsors are Jim and Pat Thyen and Sixth Street Soapery. Evansville’s Anne Dowhie, winner of a WRASFF “Choose A Charity” drawing, selected EVSC as the recipient of donations raised during this show.

Andrew Newman, author and entrepreneur, will be this year’s speaker for the University of Southern Indiana Romain College of Business Entrepreneur’s Perspective Speaker Series. His presentation, “Why the last 20 minutes of the day matter,” will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, April 11, in Carter Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

Newman was born into a fourth-generation family jewelry business in South Africa. However, when this life-long stability fell away overnight, he turned to spiritual inquiry and dove into the deep end of healing, psychology and personal development. His unplanned adventures turned into 12 years of professional training with thought leaders including Dr. Barbara Brennan, author of Hands of Light, and Jason Shulman, founder of A Society of Souls.

Today Newman balances the worlds of entrepreneur and teacher, creating a healthy, mission-aligned business that serves the world on a personal, local, and global scale. He is the founder of the Conscious Bedtime Story Club and is the author of numerous children’s’ books including The Boy Who Searched for Silence, The Hug Who Got Stuck, and The Elephant Who Tried To Tiptoe.

Newman’s presentation is brought to USI by Hug Alliance, Inc., a startup, not-for-profit organization that originated with Jeanette Maier-Lytle, instructor in accounting, and Romain College of Business students Josh Beiriger, Kyle Hoeing, and Ryan Loehrlein. Hug came into existence as the result of the observation of a high level of anxiety and stress in the young adult population and the desire to support this community of people.

The Entrepreneur’s Perspective Speakers Series highlights speakers who provide insights on entrepreneurship and the connection between education and entrepreneurial outcomes.

Ivy Tech Community College will offer free mining training at the Princeton Career and Technology Center beginning in April.

The training, MSHA Part 48 is being offered May 7-10 and May 21-24 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Participants must register in person at Ivy Tech’s Princeton Career & Technology Center, 2431 South Crabtree Drive, Princeton.

Proceeds from Indiana Coal Mining Institute license plate sales are making this opportunity available at no cost to participants who meet the general hiring requirements. Participants will be trained and ready for hire on the last day of class.

More than 125 immediate job openings in Gibson County require MSHA Part 48 training. MSHA training is required for all employees, maintenance, and vendors on any mine site. Training is valid for 36 months, so participants can train now and work later.  Ivy Tech hopes to continue to offer this training this summer, for Class of 2018 high school graduates that have an interest in a career in coal mining or mining support industries, such as diesel maintenance, engineering, industrial technology, logistics, management, and welding.

John Snowden, mining program director, will coordinate the free mining training classes at Ivy Tech. Snowden boasts nearly 30 years of mining experience and workforce training instruction throughout Southern Indiana.

For more information about free mining training classes, call the Princeton Career and Technology Center at 812-385-8495 option 0. Learn more about Ivy Tech Workforce Alignment at ivytech/edu.TrainedAndReady.