Historic New Harmony is excited to offer a new Architecture Walking Tour. This walking tour of New Harmony includes 30 buildings representative of the wide variety of architectural styles in the town.

The tour is provided by OnCell Systems, a platform for mobile tours. By calling the number on the stop sign, you will be able to access Historic New Harmony’s tour. You can start at any of the stops and can stay connected to the tour as you walk through town, or you can hang up and call back into the tour as often as you like. This tour is cosponsored by the Robert Lee Blaffer Foundation.

Once you have accessed the tour, you will hear a greeting and be prompted to enter a stop number on the tour. The stops on the Architecture Walking Tour begin with STOP 26, the Atheneum, located at 401 N. Arthur Street. Printed information about the tour, including a list of stops, is available at the Atheneum as well.

If you are using a smart phone, you will receive a text with a link to the mobile version of the tour once you dial in. This version includes a map, audio, photos, and text. You can also download an app from the iPhone App Store or from Google Play. The audio portion of the tour is available to all cell phone users (your phone does not have to be data enabled). Standard cell phone rates apply.

If you have any questions about the tour, the location of the stops or the tour stop signs, please contact Missy Parkison, community engagement manager for Historic New Harmony, 812/682-4488, mparkison@usi.edu. Comments about the tour can be left while listening by pressing *0. We welcome your feedback and hope this new tour option facilitates wider sharing of the amazing architecture we enjoy in New Harmony.

Historic New Harmony is a unified program of the University of Southern Indiana and the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites.

The University of Evansville Department of Theatre, one of the premier undergraduate theatre programs in the nation, has announced its 2013-14 season of performances in Shanklin Theatre.

The season opens September 27 with Clybourne Park, written by Bruce Norris and directed by John David Lutz. Winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 2012 Tony Award for Best Play, this razor-sharp comedy explores the fertile ground of race and real estate in America. The show runs at 7:30 p.m. September 27, 28, October 3, 4, and 5 and at 2 p.m. September 29 and October 6.

This year’s musical is Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler, from an adaptation by Christopher Bond. The show will be directed by R. Scott Lank with musical direction by Gregory B. Rike. Winner of eight 1979 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Book, and Best Original Score, this musical thriller follows the antics of the legendary barber, hell-bent on revenge, and his creepily enterprising neighbor, as they hauntingly plot to slice through London’s upper crust. Performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. November 15, 16, 21, 22, and 23, and at 2 p.m. November 17 and 24.

The spring semester opens with Compleat Female Stage Beauty by Jeffrey Hatcher, directed by R. Scott Lank. Set in a lush period of British history teeming with bawdiness and social intrigue, Kynaston, the most famous portrayer of female roles, plots his revenge after his career is ruined by the King’s decree allowing women to act on the stage. The show runs at 7:30 p.m. February 21, 22, 27, 28, and March 1, and at 2 p.m. February 23 and March 2.

The season concludes with William Shakespeare’s As You Like It, directed by guest artist Curt Tofteland. Moving between the wickedness of the royal court and the revivifying forest of Arden, Rosalind and Orlando play out their sweeping and romantic courtship against a backdrop of political rivalry and exile. Guest director Curt Tofteland served as the producing artistic director of the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival for 20 years and is the founder and producing artistic director of Shakespeare Behind Bars. Performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. April 4, 5, 10, 11, and 12, and at 2 p.m. April 6 and 13.

Season subscriptions are $44; $38 discount subscriptions are available for senior adults, UE faculty and staff, and any student. For more information, contact Sharla Cowden, UET marketing director, at 812-488-2747 or theatre (at) evansville (dot) edu.

Indiana’s economy continues to outpace the national average for private sector job growth. The hard work from Hoosiers and the General Assembly to make Indiana the envy of the nation has led to numerous business accolades and distinctions. Other states have taken notice of the policies enacted and the positive results of employers looking to locate and start a business here.

With all the positive news surrounding our state and the accomplishments made, I cannot help but feel that these leaps and bounds in the right direction are being negated at the federal level by looming health care mandates from the Affordable Care Act (often referred to as Obamacare). With 2014 quickly approaching – the date for implementation of individual and employee mandates – we have seen more and more large employers across Indiana scramble to find a way around this new law.

As part of this health care overhaul, any company with more than 50 full-time employees must offer health care coverage. The offered plans must meet an adequate standard, set in the law, or face a fine of $2,000 for every full-time employee beyond the first 30 employees. Logically speaking, if a company cannot afford to offer insurance or simply does not want to, they have two options: they can downsize to less than 50 employees or they can cut the hours of their existing employees down to part-time.

In fact, schools throughout Indiana are cutting the hours of coaches, teachers’ aides, bus drivers, cafeteria workers and other support staff in an attempt to avoid having to offer them health insurance. Lafayette School Corporation has already reduced the hours of over 600 employees. Unlike companies who produce goods and services, schools cannot easily increase their income by raising prices in order to cover this new cost.

Additionally, just last week, officials in Floyd County announced their intent to scale back the hours of part-time county workers who now work 34 hours. By giving these employees less than 30 hours a week, it would exempt Floyd County from the employer mandate. These examples offer just a glimpse of what is beginning to occur in Indiana and across the nation, and I worry that these scenarios will quickly become the rule, not the exception.

Having explained these shortfalls, criticism is only constructive when an alternative is offered. In 2008, Indiana came up with its own solution to the high level of concern surrounding the price of health care. We created the state sponsored Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP) to offer affordable health insurance plans to individuals aged 19-64 who do not have access to health insurance through their employer. This plan was approved by the federal government through a waiver to transfer Medicaid dollars to include more individuals.

This has made health care more accessible, particularly to low-income Hoosiers. In order to be eligible, Indiana residents must earn less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level and not be eligible for Medicaid. Participants are required to make monthly contributions toward coverage based on percent of gross family income. With the creation of HIP, we became the first state in the nation to offer this sort of amendment to Medicaid.

While I can commend and support the intent of wanting to help low-income Americans obtain affordable health care, I fear that in the execution of this federal mandate, there are many unintended and undesirable consequences. Michael Hicks, an economist at Ball State University explained it well when he stated that the reduction of hours will hurt the same unskilled workers who suffered the most during the recession. Higher-income workers already have health care benefits from their employers and will remain largely unaffected.

I value your input and want to know where you stand on the pressing issues facing our state and our nation. This is particularly important as we begin interim study committees. With my background in health care, I have been appointed to the Health Finance Commission as well as the Medicaid Advisory Committee, where I am sure this federal legislation and its impact on Indiana will be discussed.

Your civic involvement on these issues will be an essential part of the process. Please, feel free to connect with me on my website at www.in.gov/h75 or by phone at 317-232-9674. I look forward to your feedback.

An Evansville girl is recovering after shooting herself in the hand. Evansville police were called to 316 N. 9th at 9:30pm last night and found the 9 year old victim with a gunshot wound to her left hand. Investigators believe GILBERT RICKETTS JR, W/M, 8/7/1964, , was showing his guns to some neighborhood juveniles. RICKETTS had removed the magazine from a .22 caliber rifle and allowed the female victim to handle it, believing the weapon was safe. The rifle discharged, damaging the fingers on the left hand of the victim. The victim was transported to the hospital where it is believed she will likely lose some of her fingers. RICKETTS was arrested and charged with providing a firearm to a juvenile, a C Felony.
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