Vanderburgh County Active Warrants

Below is a list of felony cases that were filed by the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office on Friday, February 18, 2013.

Justin Carnell Battery Resulting in Bodily Injury to a Pregnant Woman-Class C Felony
(Two Counts)

Jeramy Mills Operating a Vehicle with an Ace of .15 or More-Class A Misdemeanor
(Enhanced to a Class D Felony due to Prior Convictions)
Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated-Class C Misdemeanor
(Enhanced to a Class D Felony due to Prior Convictions)

For further information on the cases listed above, or any pending case, please contact Regene Newman at 812.435.5156 or via e-mail at rinewman@vanderburghgov.org

Under Indiana law, all criminal defendants are considered to be innocent until proven guilty by a court of law.

SENTENCE CHART

Class Range
Murder 45-65 Years
Class A Felony 20-50 Years
Class B Felony 6-20 Years
Class C Felony 2-8 Years
Class D Felony ½ – 3 Years
Class A Misdemeanor 0-1 Year
Class B Misdemeanor 0-180 Days
Class C Misdemeanor 0-60 Days

Special Guests David Nail
April 18, 2013
Tickets on Sale THIS Friday February 22 at 10:00am
Purchase tickets at the Ford Center Box Office, Ticketmaster.com
or by calling 800-745-3000.
EVANSVILLE, IN – AEG Live and Victory Theatre are thrilled to welcome country super-group and recent Grammy winners Little Big Town to the Victory Theatre on April 18, 2013. Tickets go on sale this Friday, February 22 at 10:00am.
Fresh off of the success of their #1 album, Tornado, Little Big Town — consisting of members Karen Fairchild, Jimi Westbrook, Phillip Sweet and Kimberly Schlapman — along with special guest Kacey Musgraves will hit over 25 cities nationwide in some of the most beautiful theaters the US and Canada have to offer.
“We’ve been looking forward to announcing this tour for so long and can’t wait to hit the road next year,” said Schlapman. “It’s going to be so much fun to share more music from this record with our fans and we feel very honored to have Kacey and David opening for us. They’re incredible artists. This new album means so much to us and to be able to showcase all of these songs is a dream come true.”
Victory Theatre. 600 Main St. Evansville, IN 47708.
Office: (812) 422-8000
“I can’t wait to kick off the new year with Little Big Town,” exclaimed Musgraves. “As a musician and fan I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of this amazing show. Theaters alone project a special vibe for live music and adding Little Big Town’s sound to that will be magical.”
“Tornado” is the follow up single to the #1 summer hit “Pontoon” and is their fastest rising single to date, currently sitting inside the Top 30 after only 5 weeks at countr

(Washington, DC) –Congressman Larry Bucshon introduced the “Invest in America First Act,” H.R. 528, which will prohibit foreign aid from being given to countries with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over $1.5 trillion. Congressman Bucshon released the following comment regarding his bill.

Congressman Bucshon (IN-08) states:

“Our nation’s debt has surpassed the $16 trillion mark and we now borrow 42 cents on every dollar we spend. As the House continues our work to cut spending and balance the budget, we need to focus on saving where it makes sense.

“The United States currently provides billions of dollars in foreign aid while we struggle to find the financial resources to live up to the commitments made to our own citizens. Many Americans have been asked to pay more in taxes just to see that money sent to foreign countries that quite frankly do not need it.

“It simply does not make sense for the United States to continue providing foreign aid to nations with large GDPs that often run budget surpluses and hold billions of our U.S. Treasury securities. We are giving them money, only to then borrow it back with interest.

“Hardworking Americans are cutting back and responsibly budgeting their resources, this bill is a necessary step for the government to do the same. We must stop mortgaging our children’s future to pay for irresponsible, unnecessary spending today. It’s time we put America first, and this legislation does that.”

BACKGROUND:

Full text of H.R. 528 can be accessed here.

The Invest in America First Act would prohibit Congress and the President from giving nonmilitary foreign aid to countries that have a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over $1.5 trillion. There are exemptions for humanitarian and security aid. Humanitarian aid could be given in the event of a natural disaster in the form of supplies and materials, but not just a lump sum of money. Security aid could be given to countries for security threats that are deemed dangerous to the national security of United States.

For instance, in Fiscal Year 2010, the U.S. gave China $27.2 million in foreign aid, even though they hold over $1.1 trillion in U.S. Treasury securities. The same year, the U.S. gave Russia $71.5 million in aid even though they hold over $168 billion in U.S. Treasury securities.

From 2008-2012, the United States provided roughly $3.225 billion in foreign aid to countries whose GDPs are over $1.5 trillion.

Below is a list of those countries that currently have a GDP over $1.5 trillion and the foreign aid they receive from the U.S.

*GDP of the country on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis, as determined by the most recent publication of the Central Intelligence Agency’s The World Factbook.

The following countries hold U.S. Treasury securities, receive foreign aid, and have had an annual budget surplus at least once since 2007: China, Russia, Brazil, and Mexico.

DANKS & DANKS
Attorneys at Law

Dear Ted:

I am sure that you will agree that there has been a tremendous amount of time wasted on what information/records the Council can receive from the administration and the confidentiality of the requested information/records. We all have more important things to do than engage in this continued bickering over information/records and, therefore, I am revisiting this issue.

I.C. 36-4-5-3(3) provides that the Mayor shall “provide any information regarding City affairs that the legislative body requests.” Likewise, Evansville Municipal Code 2.05.010(F) provides that “the Mayor shall provide any information regarding City affairs that the legislative body requests.” (emphasis added). Thus, there are no ifs, buts or maybes about it. If the Council requests information/records from the administration the information/records must be provided to the Council period.

Pursuant to State statute, information/records fall into one of three categories: 1) confidential, 2) discretionary, and 3) not protected. Regardless of the classification of the information/records it must be furnished to the Council upon request.

Confidential records are very few and are contained in I.C. 5-14-3-4(a). When requested, the information/records must be provided to the Council upon request. Upon receiving information/records identified as confidential, the Council must maintain the confidentiality of the information/records pursuant to I.C. 5-14-3-6.5. Failure to maintain the confidentiality is a Class A Infraction pursuant to I.C. 5-14-3-10.

Pursuant to I.C. 5-14-3-4(b), certain information/records are exempted from disclosure at the discretion of the agency in possession thereof. The “discretionary” information/records are the ones that seem to cause disputes between the Council and the Administration. Again, discretionary information/records must be provided to the Council upon request without any redactions. Once these records are received by the Council IT IS THE COUNCIL NOT THE ADMINISTRATION THAT HAS THE DISCRETION TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE INFORMATION/RECORDS WILL REMAIN CONFIDENTIAL.

On several occasions, the Council has received discretionary information/records stamped “confidential” with instructions that the information/records must remain confidential. The City has no legal authority to do this.

When providing discretionary information/records to the Council, the City may request that the Council keep all or part of it confidential. It would be very helpful to provide an explanation as to why the information/records should remain confidential. But, again, whether they remain confidential will be at the SOLE DISCRETION of the Council. If you can find any legal authority to the contrary, please advise.

I discussed my legal analysis with Mr. Joseph Hoage, Indiana Public Access Counselor, and he concurs 100%. Attorney Hoage provided me with an analogy that I think is helpful: a sheriff’s department conducting an investigation can exercise its discretion to keeps its investigatory files confidential. However, once these files are turned over to the prosecutor’s office, the prosecutor then has the sole discretion on whether or not to maintain the confidentiality of those records.

Recently, discretionary records have been provided to the Council but marked confidential. In effect, the administration is putting a gag order on the Council.

As you know, all Council business must be conducted in a public forum and it becomes problematic to for them to discuss various issues that the administration has deemed to be confidential. Most Members of the Council are of the opinion that rather than attempting to find ways to keep information/records confidential that the efforts should be redirected in finding ways to make records public. Transparency is very important to the Council as the lack thereof causes undo suspicion on members of the public as well as the news media.

The Council realizes that many governmental entities do not appreciate others meddling and many times do not welcome scrutiny. The Council is of the opinion that transparency and scrutiny makes for better government.

Therefore, in the future discretionary information/records will be made public by the Council unless in doing so it would be injurious to the City of Evansville, its employees or the public.

As always, your cooperation in this matter is very much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Scott A. Danks, Attorney at Law
for the
Common Council of the City of Evansville

Bill addresses high military unemployment rate

STATEHOUSE —House Speaker Brian C. Bosma (R-Indianapolis) and Leader Scott Pelath (D-Michigan City) were joined by Brig. Gen. Brian R. Copes, Chief of the Joint Staff of the Indiana National Guard, Dr. Charles Haenlein the President and CEO of the Hoosier Veterans Assistance Foundation (HVAF) and State Reps. Steve Braun (R-Zionsville) and Ben Smaltz (R-Auburn) to address the high unemployment rate of Hoosier veterans.

Last week, House Bill (HB) 1002, the Indiana Career Council (ICC) was amended to incorporate veterans. HB 1002 is designed to improve coordination, communication and vision for Indiana’s workforce training and career preparation systems. The ICC is a panel designed to bring the principal stakeholders in the state’s workforce development efforts to a single table, with the Governor as its chair.

“The most critical challenges before this General Assembly are workforce development and job training. While Indiana is consistently ranked best in the Midwest in job creation environment, our state’s unemployment rate hovers stubbornly at 8 percent and more than doubles for our post 9/11 veterans. We must make every effort to better address this opportunity gap for those who have selflessly served our country. The ICC will unite a fragmented system, share data and coordinate all elements of the state’s workforce development system and work to address the particular unemployment concerns of veterans,” said Speaker Bosma.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Post 9/11 veterans have a national unemployment rate of 10 percent; Indiana’s veteran’s unemployment rate doubles the national average. Members of the ICC will be charged with aligning the education skills and training provided by Indiana’s educational, job skills and career training systems with the existing and projected needs of the state’s job market. The ICC will also be charged with submitting recommendations to the General Assembly on necessary improvements to Indiana’s job skills training system.

“Post 9/11 veterans face a state unemployment rate of 20 percent,” said Dr. Charles Haenlein, President and CEO of HVAF of Indiana. “With over 20 years of experience serving Hoosier veterans, we are excited to bring our unique perspective to the Career Council to better address the needs of returning veterans.”

Indiana has the fourth largest National Guard force in the United States with 12,112 troops. Since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, there have been 19,557 tours to Iraq and Afghanistan by individual members of the Indiana National Guardsmen.

Part of the strategic plan required by the ICC will be to propose changes to make Indiana a leader in STEM employment opportunities. Currently, there are 2.4 STEM jobs for every unemployed person. Because the rate of unemployment is so high among returning servicemen and women, the amendment has the ICC seek input from military and veterans organizations.
“The Indiana National Guard is deeply appreciative of the efforts by the Ind. House of Representatives to create expanded employment and training opportunities for veterans and military service members,” said Brig. Gen. Brian Copes, Indiana National Guard Chief of Joint Staff. “The opportunity for military and veteran leaders to help inform this dialogue is a gracious and welcome gesture.”

Join us this Monday on President’s Day for Lincoln Live! presented by David Wolfe. This program is appropriate for all ages. Performing as Abraham Lincoln, Wolfe illuminates Lincoln’s days in Kentucky, the family’s move to Indiana, meeting his wife in Illinois, and his years in the White House.

Free to members, $5.00 for non-members. 7:00 pm in the Carriage House with reception to follow. 224 SE First St., Evansville. 426-1871.

Tuesday, Feb. 19
1:45 – 2:40 p.m.
Washington Middle School, 1801 Washington St.

Students at Washington Middle School will get a taste of Africa Tuesday, Feb. 19, as they participate in a school-wide assembly showcasing the African Dance and Drum Troupe. The troupe is a four-person group that combines African drumming, dancing, acrobatics, stilt-walking, costumes and innovative choreography in their performances.

As part of their program, the group will portray songs, drumming, folktales, and traditions of native Africa.