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JULY 30,16 “READERS FORUM”

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WHATS ON YOUR MIND TODAY?

“IS IT TRUE” will be posted on this coming MONDAY.

Todays READERS POLL question is: Do you feel that Councilman Dan McGinn has done a creditable job as Finance Chairman of City Council?

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Super Saturday at Ellis 

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Disabled Jockeys Fund-Raiser, Ladies’ Day At The Races;
Learn About Starting Gate, Training & Meet Osorio In AM
HENDERSON, Ky. (July 28, 2016) — Ellis Park joins tracks across America on Saturday to raise money for and awareness about the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, which provides assistance to some 60 jockeys who suffered catastrophic injuries while riding.
PDJF Day is one of three special events staged Saturday at Ellis Park in addition to nine live races. The day begins with “Making of a racehorse: Let’s get started!,” a program that allows fans to see up close and personal morning schooling and how young horses learn to break from the starting gate. It’s also Ladies’ Day presented by T.R.U. Event Rental, with vendors catering to women, hors d’oeuvres and drink specials in the clubhouse’s second-floor Gardenia Room.
“We have a little bit — actually a lot — for everyone Saturday, including a card with full fields that should provide entertaining handicapping,” said racing secretary Dan Bork. “The action starts early with the opportunity to see first-hand some of the inner-workings that go into making a racehorse. Kids can come out and meet their favorite jockeys and come away with a signed pair of goggles while raising money for a good cause. And ladies very well could find their 2017 Kentucky Derby hat.”
 
PDJF Day: Jockeys, fans rally around riders with debilitating injuries
Jockeys are among the most resilient athletes around, but the fact remains that riding racehorses is a dangerous profession. The Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund is a 501(c)(3) charity that since its founding in 2006 has disbursed more than $7 million, mostly to jockey who sustained paralysis or brain injuries.
Ellis Park, the track affectionately known as the “Pea Patch,” puts its own touch on the annual fundraiser. Harley Frey, a horse owner and prominent farmer, donates a truckload of melons, which fans can get for a donation to the PDJF upon leaving the track. This one-of-a-kind venture raises several thousand dollars for PDJF.
The Ellis jockey colony, its deepest in the modern era, will participate in autograph signings throughout the afternoon as riding schedules allow. For a $15 donation, fans can get a signed pair of goggles. The winning jockey also will give a pair to a kid by the winner’s circle after each race.
Racing enthusiasts can buy $1 chances on a Victor Espinoza-autographed poster of Michael Clevenger’s Eclipse Award-winning photo of American Pharoah and Espinoza crossing the Belmont Stakes finish line to complete the first Triple Crown in 37 years. In a separate drawing at $1 a chance, fans can win signed programs from the sport’s biggest events, including Rachel Alexandra’s 2007 Kentucky Oaks and Preakness and American Pharoah’s Kentucky Derby.
Ladies Day presented by T.R.U. Event Rental: 
Women can win prizes in hat and high-heel contests while enjoying free hors d’oeuvres and drink specials sponsored by Republic National Distributing Company in the Gardenia Room. Speciality vendors will be on hand with distinctive merchandise, including For the Love of Hats by Shell, who’ll be bringing her hats and famous feather bowties. Others: Hannah’s Rustic Charm, It Works and Initials, Inc. The event is free.
Starting gate to barn visit to Osorio and Santos chatting with fans
Learn how horses are taught to break from the starting gate – and it’s not the bell to which they react. In a free event staged by Ellis Park and the Kentucky division of the Horsemen’s Protective & Benevolent Association, fans are invited to arrive starting at 7 a.m. CT in the south end of Ellis’ parking lot by the schooling gate in the mile chute near the Ohio River levee. The program will start at 7:30 a.m., with Ellis starter Scott Jordan, who also is in charge of the starting gate for Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby, explaining the process while fans are within feet of the action.
All ages are welcome, and afterward the program shifts to third-generation Ellis Park trainer John Hancock’s barn for insight and discussion on what happens in a stable during morning training. Didiel Osorio, last year’s Ellis riding champion, and his agent, Jose Santos Jr., will talk with fans and give signed goggles to kids. 
Fans can cap the morning by watching Ellis Park announcer Jimmy McNerney make his weekly Saturday picks at 9:30 a.m. in the track clubhouse.
First post is 12:50 p.m. CT, with free admission and parking, while adults can also play the Instant Racing Machines. 

Cement Manufacturer Cemex Agrees To Reduce Harmful Air Pollution

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Cement Manufacturer Cemex Agrees To Reduce Harmful Air Pollution

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) today announced a settlement with Cemex, Inc., under which the company will invest approximately $10 million to cut emissions of harmful air pollution at five of its cement manufacturing plants in Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act. Under the consent decree lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, Cemex will also pay a $1.69 million civil penalty, conduct energy audits at the five plants, and spend $150,000 on energy efficiency projects to mitigate the effects of past excess emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from its facilities.

“This settlement requires Cemex to use state of the art technology to reduce harmful air pollution, improving public health in vulnerable communities across the South and Southeast,” said Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “EPA is committed to tackling clean air violations at the largest sources, cutting the pollutants that cause respiratory illnesses like asthma.”

“The cement sector is a significant source of air pollution posing real health risks to the communities where they reside, including vulnerable communities across the U.S. who deserve better air quality than they have gotten over the years,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “This agreement will require Cemex to pay a penalty and install important pollution controls to achieve reductions in harmful air emissions, thereby making Cemex a better neighbor to local residents.”

The five Cemex facilities produce Portland cement, a key ingredient in concrete, mortar, and stucco, and are located in Demopolis, Alabama, Louisville, Kentucky, Knoxville, Tennessee, and New Braunfels and Odessa, Texas. The Knox County, Tennessee and Louisville, Kentucky air pollution control authorities participated in this settlement.

Cemex is required to install pollution control technology that will reduce emissions of NOx and establish strict limits for sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions, which will improve air quality in local communities. Cemex will install and continuously operate a selective non-catalytic reduction system for controlling NOx at the five plants and meet emission limits that are consistent with the current best available control technology for NOx.  EPA estimates this will result in NOx emissions reductions of over 4,000 tons per year.  Each facility will also be subject to strict SO2 emission limits.

NOx and SO2, two key pollutants emitted from cement plants, have numerous adverse effects on human health and are significant contributors to acid rain, smog, and haze. The pollutants are converted in the air into fine particles of particulate matter that can cause severe respiratory and cardiovascular impacts, and premature death. Reducing these harmful air pollutants will benefit the communities located near the Cemex plants, particularly communities disproportionately impacted by environmental risks and vulnerable populations, including children.

This settlement is part of EPA’s National Enforcement Initiative to control harmful emissions from large sources of pollution, which includes cement manufacturing plants, under the Clean Air Act’s Prevention of Significant Deterioration requirements. The total combined SO2 and NOx emission reductions secured from cement plant settlements under this initiative will exceed 75,000 tons each year once all the required pollution controls have been installed and implemented.

The settlement is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval. Information about submitting a public comment is available at:www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees

For more information on the settlement visit:
https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/cemex-inc-global-clean-air-act-settlement

“JUDGE, SEE ASHLEY”

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Gavel Gamut  By Jim Redwine

(Week 1 August July 2016)

“JUDGE, SEE ASHLEY”

The note “See Ashley” appears regularly on matters of Divorce, Paternity, Protective Orders and, especially, Child in Need of Services cases in the Posey Circuit Court. When I see that directive from Court Reporter Ashley Thompson I get the same feeling I had whenever my mother would say, “James Marion Redwine …” Mom’s use of my full name always preceded bad news. When Ashley calls my attention to a situation it is not because things in a case are going well.

My four court reporters are prohibited by law from giving legal advice. However, almost every citizen who is in need of court services also needs legal advice and expects the court reporters to give it. We actually have public information papers that explain this dilemma to citizens who either voluntarily seek justice from the court or who are brought into the legal vortex by some other person or entity such as a former spouse, the Division of Family and Children’s Services or the Prosecuting Attorney’s office.

Ashley Thompson has been a court reporter for ten years. While she cannot practice law she can and does assist people who come into contact with the court. Most people do not see a trip to a court as something good. The legal process is often both bewildering and scary. It can also affect the most dearly cherished aspects of life such as one’s children or freedom. Ashley can and does carefully and gently explain the procedure as she refers citizens to attorneys who can provide legal advice. The court is not allowed to recommend specific lawyers but the court reporters do have general information on which attorneys might concentrate in certain areas.

Ashley and her husband Bryan Thompson have four children and their whole family is deeply involved in their Point Township Nazarene Church. Bryan is a lay minister who is working toward ordination. Ashley managed to care for her family, her job and her community while completing her bachelor’s degree from Oakland City University in 2015.

Bryan and Ashley’s daughter Cassandra will graduate from Western Kentucky University this year. Their daughter Emma will start the 8th grade at Mt. Vernon Junior High this fall and eleven year old Levi will be in the 6th grade. Emma and Levi are both soccer players and active members of their church.

Eighteen-year-old Luke Thompson just returned from a church mission trip to Honduras where he gave of his time and hard work to paint school classrooms, roof buildings and fill food bags for those in need.

Ashley’s parents, Dennis and Bobbette Marshall, are both police officers. She grew up with the legal system ingrained in all aspects of her life. Her public service in the court is a natural progression. Ashley is the volunteer secretary for the Mt. Vernon Soccer Booster Club. She was honored as the Business and Professional Women’s Woman of the Year in 2006. And to cleanse her mind of the flotsam and jetsam in the court, Ashley regularly runs half-marathons.

Ashley and Bryan lead the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace course through their Nazarene church and provide volunteer marital counseling. Bryan also conducts a lay ministry at the Posey County jail.

Not all court contacts are traumatic. However, many of those who need the services over which Ashley has responsibility are embarrassed, confused and frightened. She can and does help assuage the pain. So, when citizens must “See Ashley” they need not feel as I often do.

Final “Gary’s Ride” Marks 10 Year Anniversary of ISP Lt. Gary Dudley’s Death

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“GARY’S RIDE” is a recreational bicycle ride to honor Indiana State

                        Police Lt. Gary Dudley.  All proceeds from the ride benefit The Gary

                        Dudley Memorial Scholarship Foundation, which provides college

                        scholarships to the children of Police Officers killed in the Line of          

                        Duty in Indiana.  To date, over $180,000 is scholarships have been 

                         awarded.

 

        Saturday, August 13, 2016   Registration is from 

                        7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., with an open start

                        This will be our 10th and FINAL GARY’S RIDE

 

       Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in Plainfield, IN 5402 Sugar Grove Rd, Plainfield, IN 46168

 

            Bicyclists of all ages and experience levels are welcome.  Routes range

                        from a “Family Fun Ride” (0-10 miles) up to a Century (100 miles). 

                        Six distance levels are available.  You can ride as little or as much as 

                        you want.  Helmets are required.

 

      On-line registration is available at: www.getmeregistered.com.  For  

                        information about this event, please go to www.garysride.com

                         Day of registration will be available 

                        Please direct any questions to Carolyn Dudley at:  

                        bikecentury@comcast.net

 

EVENTS:      In addition to the ride, there will be activities for kids of all ages to enjoy at the ILEA, including a large display of Police, Fire, & EMS vehicles and equipment.  The displays are free and open to the public and are available from 9:00a.m. until 12:00p.m.

Registration PDF Form is Attached

About Gary Dudley:

Hometown: Indianapolis, Indiana

Appointed to Indiana State Police: December 14, 1979
District: Headquarters – Commander Indiana State Police Training Academy
Born April 7, 1955, Died August 22, 2006

While participating in a bicycle ride to honor fallen police officers, Lieutenant Gary Dudley and retired Lake County Sheriff’s Department Chief of Police Gary Martin were killed when a box truck struck the riders’ support vehicle shoving the support vehicle into the group of cyclists. Lieutenant Dudley and Chief Martin died at the scene of the crash on State Road 63 in Vermillion County. A third cyclist, retired Indianapolis Police Officer Spencer Moore was injured in the crash.

Volunteers needed for weekend search for Aleah Beckerle. Important info to know before arriving to help search.

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Members of the Texas EquuSearch organization will be coordinating a public search for Aleah Beckerle this weekend. Searches will begin on Saturday and Sunday at 8:00am. Anyone who wants to assist in the search must meet at Delaware Elementary School no later than 8:00am. Delaware is located at 700 N Garvin Street in Evansville.
There are important things to know before joining the search efforts.
You MUST be at least 18 years old to help the EquuSearch team. You must bring a valid ID with you.
You will need to dress appropriately. They suggest long pants, long sleeve shirt, hat, and boots.
You will need to bring plenty of water and a way to carry it into the areas to be searched.
Search team leaders will provide more information for the volunteers prior to the search beginning. The search coordinators have final say on who they can allow to participate. Please ensure you are have reviewed the listed requirements prior to arriving at Delaware school.

FORGIVING JOHN HINCKLEY

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Making Sense by Michael Reagan

A federal judge has ruled that John Hinckley Jr., the mentally disturbed man who tried to assassinate my father 35 years ago, will be set free in about a week.

Many people, including members of my own family, think it’s a terrible injustice that Hinckley, now 61, will be allowed to leave the mental hospital and live permanently with his elderly mother in Virginia.

I don’t.

Before I explain, I’d like to remind people of what my father said and did in the days following the events of March 30, 1981.

When I walked into his hospital room the next day and saw my wounded father, the first thing he said to me, after “Good morning,” was “Michael, if you’re ever going to be shot, don’t be wearing a new suit.”

What? I thought to myself.

“Well, yesterday I was shot.”

“I know, father. I know.”

“Well, I was wearing a brand new suit I had just picked up the day before. And I’m telling you, if you’re going to get shot don’t be wearing a new suit.

“When I was on the gurney they cut that suit off me and the last time I saw it it was in shreds in the corner of my hospital room. That’s what they do. They cut it off you.”

My father was only half done with his story.

“That young man who shot me, John Hinckley Jr., I understand his parents are in the oil biz.”

“Yes they are, Dad.”

“I understand they live in Denver.”

“Yes they do, Dad.

“Do you think they have any money?”

“Dad,” I said, “they are in the oil business and live in Denver. Of course they have money.”

My dad looked at me and said, “Well, do you think they’d buy me a new suit?”

Humor was my dad’s way of making strangers feel comfortable in his presence. He was the same way with his family.

Before my father was well enough to go back to the White House he did something completely serious. He said he had forgiven Hinckley.

Not only that, he wanted to go to meet Hinckley face-to-face and tell him that he had forgiven him.

Hinckley’s doctors didn’t think that was a good idea because Hinckley was too mentally unstable, so it never happened.

But it proves, as I always like to say, that my father didn’t just recite “The Lord’s Prayer,” he lived it.

A lot of people can’t forgive Hinckley even today.

They were shocked in 1981 when he was found not guilty by reason of insanity and they were angry when they found out he’d become eligible for release some day.

Because of Hinckley, the laws were changed. Today if you shoot at the president you stay in prison for life, no matter how crazy you are.

Over the years all of us in the families hurt by Hinckley have watched the courts and doctors slowly but surely release him through the mental health system.

Hinckley’s not a threat to my family or anyone else’s. But he’s not totally free and never will be.

He may not have bars to look through, but he has his own type of jail. People will be watching him all the time. So will the Secret Service.

At first I was very upset and angry when Hinckley got off on the insanity defense. How could a person shoot the president of the United States and be allowed to ever have any freedom at all?

Fifteen years ago I was still angry. But 15 years later I want to be more like my father and have a forgiving heart, not an angry heart.

So at the same time John Hinckley has been set free, maybe I have been too.

BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS AGENDA

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BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS

REGULAR MEETING

KEVIN WINTERNHEIMER CHAMBERS

ROOM 301, CIVIC CENTER COMPLEX

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016

12:00 NOON

AGENDA

1. CALL TO ORDER

2. MINUTESJuly 20, 2016

3. CONSENT AGENDA

a.   Request Re:  Approve and Execute Park Use Application with Alex Mourer for ParksFest

at Garvin Park September 9 & 10, 2016. – Hayes

 

4.         OLD BUSINESS N/A

 

5.         NEW BUSINESS

a.   Request Re:  Approval for Toast Evansville, LLC to Cater and Provide Alcohol Services for

Thunderbolts Games at Swonder Ice Arena. -  Brandon/Ashley Hallman

b.   Request Re:  Any Other Business the Board Wishes to Consider and Public Comments.

6.        REPORTS

a.   Danielle Crook, Swonder Ice Arena

b.   Charlie Mangold, Maintenance

7.        ACCEPTANCE OF PAYROLL AND VENDOR CLAIMS

 

8.        ADJOURN

EVSC First Day of School Wed., August 10

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The first day of the school in the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation is quickly approaching and to help parents get ready, we have compiled a list of important need-to-know information. All the information below can be found online by visiting www.evscschools.com and clicking on “Back to School.” For specific information related to individual schools, parents can visit school websites at www.evscschools.com/schoolname. A Back to School folder can be found under “Parents” on each school website.

Enrollment

Enrollment in the EVSC officially begins Monday, August 1, for the 2016-2017 school year. Students who have never enrolled in the EVSC or who are transferring from another EVSC school, need to enroll at his/her new school before the first day of school.

To enroll, parents/guardians must be present and will need to present a legal birth certificate. Students enrolling in kindergarten must be 5 years old on or before August 1.

Enrollment times for this year are:
August 1: 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.

August 2: 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.

August 3 –9 (Monday – Friday): 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.

High school enrollment is by appointment only. Please call your student’s school to schedule an appointment.

School Hours
Elementary schools: 8:15 a.m. – 3:10 p.m.
K-8, Middle and High schools: 7:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

AIS-Diamond Campus: 7:55 a.m. – 1:55 p.m.
AIS-First Avenue Campus: 8 a.m. to 2:55 p.m.

Bus Transportation
Students needing bus transportation for the 2016-2017 school year should receive a postcard in the mail from the Office of Transportation that includes the student’s morning pick up bus number, pick up time and pick up location, if applicable. It also will include the student’s afternoon bus number, drop off time and drop off location.

Parents who have questions after receiving the postcard should call 812-435-1BUS (1287).

Free/Reduced Lunch Applications
Again this year, families wishing to apply for free/reduced lunch and textbooks can do so online which will help speed up the process. To apply online, families should go to www.evscschools.com/family_services and click on “Food and Nutrition,” then “Free & Reduced Lunch.”

Extended Daycare Applications

Students needing before and/or after-school care can do so through EVSC’s Extended Day Centers. Our Centers are open at 6 a.m. for before school care and again afterschool until 6 p.m. Applications are now available by going to www.evscschools.com/family_services and clicking on “Extended Day Centers.”

Dress for Success Uniform Policy

A number of EVSC schools have enhanced dress code policies that are designed to keep students focused on classroom activities and make it easier for families to provide school clothing. To see a list of schools and the policy, visit www.evscschools.com/family_services. 

Textbook Rental and Rates

Textbook invoices are distributed to elementary and middle school families during the first week of school and to high school families in late August/early September.  For more information on textbook rental and rates, visit www.evscschools.com/about_us, then click on “Learning Tools & Resources,” then “Rental Rates & Fees.”

 

7th Circuit takes detailed look at Title VII, sexual orientation claims

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Jennifer Nelson for www.theindianalawyer.com

Noting the writing may be on the wall that people who bring sexual orientation discrimination claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 should be protected, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals was bound by precedent to deny a woman’s claim against Ivy Tech Community college in South Bend.

Kimberly Hively brought her claim after she was passed over repeatedly for full-time employment with the school. She had worked as a part-time adjunct professor since 2000 and claimed she was denied full-time employment and promotions based on sexual orientation in violation of Title VII.

Ivy Tech filed a motion to dismiss because Title VII doesn’t apply to sexual orientation claims, which the District Court granted last March. And based on Hamner v. St. Vincent Hosp. & Health Care Ctr., Inc., 224 F.3d 701, 704 (7th Cir. 2000) and Spearman v. Ford Motor Co., 231 F.3d 1080, 1085 (7th Cir. 2000), the 7th Circuit panel affirmed. Those cases made clear that harassment based solely upon a person’s sexual preference or orientation, and not one’s sex, is not an unlawful employment practice under title VII.

But Judge Ilana Rovner then went on to devote much of the decision to the changing legal landscape when it comes to protections and civil rights for gays and lesbians. She noted that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently declared that “sexual orientation is inherently a ‘sex-based consideration,’ and an allegation of discrimination based on sexual orientation is necessarily an allegation of sex discrimination under Title VII,” Baldwin v. Foxx, EEOC Appeal 0120133080, 2015 WL 4397641 (July 16, 2015).

The panel looked at how other circuits have handled the issue – some carefully try to tease apart the sexual orientation and gender non-conformity claims, which have been found to be protected under Title VII, and look only at the portions of the claim that appear to address cognizable gender non-conformity discrimination. Some disallow any claims where sexual orientation and gender non-conformity are intertwined.

“Whether the line is nonexistent or merely exceedingly difficult to find, it is certainly true that the attempt to draw and observe a line between the two types of discrimination results in a jumble of inconsistent precedents,” she wrote.

Since the EEOC’s recent holding, the district courts, the “laboratories on which the Supreme Court relies to work through cutting-edge legal problems — are beginning to ask whether the sexual orientation-denying emperor of Title VII has no clothes,” Rovner wrote. She also pointed out U.S. Supreme Court rulings striking down the Defense of Marriage Act in 2013 and ruling last year that same-sex couples had the right to marry in every state.

“The cases as they stand do, however, create a paradoxical legal landscape in which a person can be married on Saturday and then fired on Monday for just that act. For although federal law now guarantees anyone the right to marry another person of the same gender, Title VII, to the extent it does not reach sexual orientation discrimination, also allows employers to fire that employee for doing so.”

Rovner explained we are left with a body of law that protects a lesbian who faces discrimination because she’s not “feminine” enough, but would not protect her for marrying another woman. And until the U.S. Supreme Court releases a decision on this matter or Congress amends the act or writes new legislation, the 7th Circuit must adhere to its prior precedent to affirm Hively had no protection under Title VII for her sexual orientation discrimination claim.

Judge Kenneth Ripple joined the judgment of the court and on parts I and IIA of the decision.

The case is Kimberly Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College, South Bend, 15-1720.

 

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