The Ongoing Dysfunction In The Local Vanderburgh County Republican Party
(Podcast produced by Johnny Kincaid)
INTRO COMMENTS WRITTEN BY STAFF
MAY 28, 2024
In this episode of This Week in Evansville, Johnny Kincaid expresses his disgust over the ongoing dysfunction in the Vanderburgh County Republican Party.
The most recent move by County Chairman Mike Duckworth was filing written complaints to the 8th District GOP Chair asking for the removal of three (3) duly elected precinct members (PCs) and state convention delegates. The complaints were filed four days after the county election board certified the results.
Kincaid says what Duckworth is doing is bad for the future of the local GOP in Vanderburgh County and the party leaders shouldn’t expect to win close elections until they stop the infighting.
Click the Podcast link posted below to hear what Johnny Kincaid has to say about the local GOP Chairman attempting to kick out three (3) recently elected PC party members.
FOOTNOTE: The City-County Observer posted Mr. Kincaid’s podcast with the opinion that Mr. Duckworth should do the reasonable thing by dropping his baseless complaints against three (3) duly elected PC members of the Vanderburgh County GOP.
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The new and improved bipartisan Promising Pathway Act will give patients with terminal diseases hope for new cures and treatments
Washington – Today, Senator Mike Braun, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and a bipartisan team of Senators introduced the new version of the Promising Pathway Act: a bill to give hope to thousands of Americans struggling with rare and life-threatening diseases.
When you’ve been diagnosed with a rare and progressive disease, access to promising treatments is the difference between life and death.
It takes about 6 years on average for a drug to get through the FDA’s fastest drug approval pathway – and even longer before patients can actually take them. Those with diseases like ALS simply don’t have time to wait.
That’s where Promising Pathway comes in. We’ll create a conditional approval pathway for drugs intended to treat rare, progressive and congenital diseases. Think of it like a “passing lane” for drugs that have shown safety and evidence of effectiveness for patients with life-threatening diseases who don’t have time to wait.
Promising Pathway has seen a groundswell of support from both sides of the aisle and the patient community in the past year. Over that time, Senator Braun’s team has put together changes to the bill to help it become law and better serve patients, resulting in today’s new version.
Promising Pathway 2.0 was introduced by Senator Mike Braun, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Senator Kevin Cramer, Senator Joe Manchin, Senator Eric Schmitt, Senator Alex Padilla, Senator J.D. Vance, Senator Cory Booker, Senator Josh Hawley, Senator Peter Welch, and Senator Lisa Murkowski.
NewsNation’s Kristen Eskow reported on the new version of the bill and spoke to some of the patients this legislation would help:
New commitment brings the company’s total LEAP plans to $9 billion, with 900 new jobs, to support a current and future pipeline of medicines
INDIANAPOLIS – Today during the Indiana Global Economic Summit, Governor Eric J. Holcomb joined Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) Chair and CEO David A. Ricks to announce Lilly’s plans to more than double its investment at the LEAP Research and Innovation District in Lebanon. The new $5.3 billion expansion brings Lilly’s total LEAP investment to $9 billion and will enhance Lilly’s capacity to manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) for its latest type 2 diabetes and obesity medicines.
“Lilly continues to play a transformational role in shaping Indiana’s opportunity economy, and I couldn’t be more proud about their pole position leadership in developing the LEAP Research and Innovation District in Lebanon, Indiana. Lilly has long been driving global innovation and economic growth that will be felt for decades here at home,” said Gov. Holcomb. “As an international company, headquartered in Indiana, Lilly had a world of options to consider before making this investment, and choosing Indiana once again reinforces the incredible environment we’ve cultivated and the talented workforce we have to carry Lilly’s success forward. I can’t wait to see the incredible benefits this investment leads to for patients around the world, knowing they were made in Indiana.”
In addition to the new, multi-billion-dollar investment, Lilly also committed to create another 200 new, full-time jobs for highly skilled workers, such as engineers, scientists, operating personnel and lab technicians, bringing the company’s total planned new jobs at LEAP to 900.
“Today’s announcement tops the largest manufacturing investment in our company’s history and, we believe, represents the single largest investment in synthetic medicine API manufacturing in U.S. history,” said Ricks. “This multi-site campus will make our latest medicines, support pipeline growth and leverage the latest technology and automation for maximum efficiency, safety and quality control. Importantly, we are investing in our home state of Indiana, creating high-wage, advanced manufacturing, engineering and science jobs for hundreds of current and future Hoosier families.”
Since 2020, Lilly has committed more than $16 billion to develop new manufacturing sites in the U.S. and Europe. New locations outside of Indiana include Research Triangle Park and Concord, North Carolina; Limerick, Ireland; and Alzey, Germany. Separately, Lilly has invested an additional $1.2 billion to update existing manufacturing facilities in Indianapolis. In May 2022, Lilly first announced its plans to invest $2.1 billion and create up to 500 new jobs at LEAP. At the company’s Lebanon groundbreaking in April 2023, Lilly announced an additional $1.6 billion investment and 200 new jobs at the site.
Since breaking ground at LEAP in April 2023, Lilly has transformed a significant portion of its 600 acres at the site into an active construction site and expects to begin making medicines there in late 2026.
The state has agreed to assist in developing a robust workforce ecosystem of qualified manufacturing talent by providing the land and helping to raise capital for a new workforce training center that will be part of the larger LEAP industrial development. The new training center will have added impact by aligning with Lilly’s previously announced financial support for scholarship and training programs with Purdue University and Ivy Tech Community College, as well as the BioCrossroads-led training center at 16 Tech – part of Indiana’s recent Tech Hub designation.
“We are excited about Eli Lilly and Company’s plan to expand their investment in Lebanon, reinforcing their role as a key community partner in driving future innovation and economic prosperity,” said Lebanon Mayor Matt Gentry. “Their investment underscores our shared commitment to creating greater opportunities and enhancing the quality of life for our residents and community.”
Based on the company’s plans to create 200 additional new jobs at their project site in LEAP, the IEDC committed an additional investment in Lilly of up to $500,000 in the form of incentive-based training grants. The IEDC also committed an additional investment of up to $20 million in redevelopment tax credits and $15 million in road infrastructure improvements based on the company’s announced plans to invest an additional $5.2 billion. Furthermore, with a total estimated capital investment of $9.7 billion and the hiring of 900 high-wage positions by Lilly at their LEAP site, the IEDC also revised its Innovation Development District award structure to accommodate a 30-year benefit period with an estimated value of $1.2 billion in tax rebates and the flexibility for the project to further grow. All incentives remain subject to the final IEDC Board of Directors and the state of Indiana required approvals and contracting.
As the cliché goes, Trump should be careful what he wishes for. The debates may not go the way he hopes.
It looks like there will be two meetings between the candidates.
The first will be in Atlanta, Georgia—perhaps the swingiest of the swing states—on June 27. CNN will air the debate with Jake Tapper and Dana Bash moderating. CNN says its debate will not be before a live audience.
The second one will be on Sept. 10 at a location yet to be determined. ABC will host with Linsey Davis and David Muir moderating. (Disclosure: Davis teaches with me at Franklin College.) Not much is known about the format.
Trump already has complained about CNN’s decision not to have an on-site audience. He’s also said he wants still more debates.
That he doesn’t like not having a crowd is hardly a surprise. Trump soaks up the approval of his MAGA crowds like a heroin addict craves his next hit.
But the fact that he’s so hooked on his base’s applause is one reason he never has won the popular vote in an election.
Presumably, he already has the votes of those wearing red Make America Great Again hats in his pocket. What he needs to win are the votes of those Americans who are undecided.
CNN’s format allows the moderators to move the concerns of those voters to the forefront and limits the opportunities for either candidate to play only to his base. It wouldn’t surprise me if ABC also tries a format that targets Americans who still need to make up their minds.
This is to the good.
If done right, these debate formats will put pressure on the candidates to demonstrate that they will be a president for all the people, not just those who cheer and vote for them.
Trump’s call for more debates is also predictable.
He’s not a man much connected to reality. He’s convinced he will wipe the floor with Biden.
An honest appraisal of the record does not support his assessment.
Biden beat him in both 2020 debates.
In the first one, when Trump came out interrupting and caterwauling like an over-tired toddler who’d been fed way too much sugar, Biden delivered the most memorable, if unplanned sound bite when he referred to Trump as a “clown.”
More important, Biden demonstrated he would stand his ground when someone tries to bully him. Given that bullying is Trump’s go-to response under pressure, when someone refuses to be bullied, the former president just looks flummoxed and out of control.
In the second debate, which—like CNN’s proposed format this year—did not have a studio audience, Trump did better, but Biden still dissected the many Trump contradictions and absurdities.
The debates put Biden on his way to the White House because they made clear to the suburban and mostly female voters in America’s suburbs who decided the election that while they might disagree with the Democratic candidate on taxes and other issues, they could count on him to be a sane and steady presence in the White House.
That was enough.
But one shouldn’t write off Biden’s debate victories in 2020 as simply the product of Trump’s weakness.
Biden also bested Paul Ryan in the 2012 vice presidential debate. He tore into the Republican ticket’s policy proposals and turned the tide after then President Barack Obama’s weak performance in the first presidential debate that year.
Four years earlier, most observers expected him to have trouble with Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who had a star power and populist appeal that anticipated Trump’s.
But Biden managed to connect better with everyday Americans than Palin did. He showed he understood the pressures of their lives in ways she didn’t. He also, gracefully, revealed her to be the neophyte on the national stage that she was.
In many ways, Biden’s strong record as a debater is a puzzle.
He’s not a great—or even good—public speaker. No president in my lifetime has been less effective as an orator. Even Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford—both of whom served as cures for insomnia—were better at moving crowds than Biden is.
But the man does his homework.
And Trump doesn’t.
That’s why Trump may regret getting what he asked for.
FOOTNOTES:
John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students. The views expressed are those of the author only and should not be attributed to Franklin College.
City-County Observer posted Mr. Kull’s article without opinion, bias, or editing.
Evansville Vanderburgh County
Convention & Visitors Commission
Executive Session and Special Meeting Notice
Evansville, IN –May 28, 2024 – Meetings of the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Convention &
Visitors Commission and Evansville Convention & Visitors Bureau, Inc. (collectively “Commission”) will hold an Executive Session meeting pursuant to I.C. 5-14-1.5 regarding a review of agreements involving potential confidential information on Wednesday, May 29, 2024 from 8:30 to 9:00 am. The Executive Session meeting will be held in Suite 410 of the Fifth Third Bank Building, 20 NW 3rd Street, Evansville, IN.
The special meeting will convene at 9:00 am in the same location and be conducted both in person and virtually per existing law and common policy. There may be votable actions taken at this meeting. The virtual link for the said meeting will be https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86260026430?pwd=TUI2cWZHUWlqMXhNOHQwYlNBaGowQT09.
Indiana recognized for work to strengthen families with in-home supports, reducing number of children entering foster care
INDIANAPOLIS (May 23, 2024) – The Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS) has received national recognition for its Indiana Family Preservation Services program, which provides in-home support to strengthen families and improve outcomes while reducing the number of children entering the foster care system.
The program, which launched in June 2020, has been designated a promising practice by the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare. The program also was highlighted as an example of how new approaches to child welfare practice can enhance child and family well-being in an Aprilreport by the Christensen Institute. On Wednesday, David Reed, MSW, LCSW, CSAYC, deputy director for child welfare services at DCS, spoke about the program’s positive impact before the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance.
The Indiana Family Preservation Services program is designed to keep children in their home when it is safe to do so. It achieves this goal by helping families understand and implement best practices for parental resilience, child development and social connectedness. The program also can provide other support, such as financial assistance, when not doing so would result in children having to enter foster care. Most importantly, all services are coordinated by a single provider, easing the administrative burden on families by working with a single point of contact.
“Entering foster care and being separated from family is traumatic for children,” Reed said. “When we can provide the support that allows children to remain safely at home, we see vastly improved outcomes and healthier relationships over the long term.”
Reed noted that the program has resulted in children being safer, with fewer children experiencing repeated maltreatment than before its launch.
Additionally, since the federal Family First Prevention Services Act passed in 2018, DCS has:
Reduced the number of children in traditional out-of-home foster care by 50 percent
Reduced the number of children in residential facilities by more than 50 percent
The Indiana Family Preservation Services program has played a critical role in those outcomes.
Since its inception, Indiana Family Preservation Services has served more than 27,000 children and 14,000 families.
FOOTNOTE: EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT information was provided by the EPD and posted by the City-County-County Observer without opinion, bias, or EDITING.
Licensed Registered Nurse credentialed from the Tennessee Board of Nursing or current home state license for multi-state license recognition “Compact State”…
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Ascension will provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all associates and applicants for employment regardless of race, color, religion, national origin…
Ascension will provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all associates and applicants for employment regardless of race, color, religion, national origin…
Ascension will provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all associates and applicants for employment regardless of race, color, religion, national origin…
Across the state, Ascension Saint Thomas and its partner organizations employ more than 11,000 dedicated associates who care for millions of patients each year.
Ascension will provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all associates and applicants for employment regardless of race, color, religion, national origin…
Ascension will provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all associates and applicants for employment regardless of race, color, religion, national origin…
Ascension will provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all associates and applicants for employment regardless of race, color, religion, national origin…
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