(Evansville, IN) — The Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana will announce the winner of the prestigious 2012 Mayor’s Arts Award and thirteen other arts awards at a 10:00 a.m. press conference on Wednesday, June 27, 2012. Chair of the Arts Awards Committee Jack Schriber will introduce the selected nominees and give a brief overview of their qualifications. Mayor Lloyd Winnecke will be present to announce the Mayor’s Arts Award. The press conference will take place at the Arts Council’s Bower-Suhrheinrich Foundation Gallery, 318 Main Street, in downtown Evansville.

In addition to the Mayor’s Arts Award, recognition will include the Arts Advocate, Arts Educator, Artist, Young Artist of the Year, the Institute Arts Award and the Regional Arts Awards. The Arts Council’s annual Arts Awards honor individuals, groups, and institutions that have made significant contributions to the advancement of the arts in Evansville and the surrounding counties.

The award winners will be honored at the annual Arts Awards Banquet on Thursday, September 6, 2012 in the Walnut Atrium of Casino Aztar – 421 NW Riverside Drive, Evansville. The Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana is a not-for-profit organization, in existence since 1970, which provides communication support and programming for local artists and art organizations. For current event information, visit the Arts Council website: www.artswin.org.

The Board of School Trustees of the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation will meet in executive session at 4:00 p.m. on Monday, June 18, 2012, in the John H. Schroeder Conference Center in the Superintendent’s office in the Technology and Innovation Center, 951 Walnut, Evansville, IN. The session will be conducted according to Senate Enrolled Act 313, Section 1, I.C. 5-14-1.5-6.1, as amended. The purpose of the meeting is for discussion of collective bargaining, (2)(A); initiation of litigation or litigation that is either pending or has been threatened specifically in writing, (2)(B); purchase or lease of property, (2)(D); and job performance evaluation of individual employees, (9). The public School Board Meeting will follow at 5:30 p.m. in the Board Room at 951 Walnut Street, Evansville, IN.

Excerpts:

“Emerging from the squalor and decay of the seventies and eighties, Chicago grew for the first time since 1950—by more than 100,000 people over the decade. The unemployment rate in the nation’s third-biggest city was lower than in its two larger rivals, and per-capita income growth was higher. Chicago’s metropolitan area racked up 560,000 new jobs, more than either New York’s or Los Angeles’s in raw numbers and over twice as many on a percentage basis.”

“But despite the chorus of praise, it’s becoming evident that the city took a serious turn for the worse during the first decade of the new century. The gleaming towers, swank restaurants, and smart shops remain, but Chicago is experiencing a steep decline quite different from that of many other large cities.”

“Begin with Chicago’s population decline during the 2000s, an exodus of more than 200,000 people that wiped out the previous decade’s gains. Of the 15 largest cities in the United States in 2010, Chicago was the only one that lost population; indeed, it suffered the second-highest total loss of any city, sandwiched between first-place Detroit and third-place, hurricane-wrecked New Orleans.”

“The demographic disaster extends beyond city limits. Cook County as a whole lost population during the 2000s; among America’s 15 largest counties, the only other one to lose population was Detroit’s Wayne County.”

“Chicago’s economy also performed poorly during the first decade of the century. That was a tough decade all over the United States, of course, but the Chicago region lost 7.1 percent of its jobs—the worst performance of any of the country’s ten largest metro areas. Chicago’s vaunted Loop, the second-largest central business district in the nation, did even worse, losing 18.6 percent of its private-sector jobs, according to the Chicago Loop Alliance.”

“Cook County treasurer Maria Pappas estimates that within the city of Chicago, there’s a stunning $63,525 in total local government liabilities per household. Not all of this is city debt; the region’s byzantine political structure includes many layers of government, including hundreds of local taxing districts. But pensions for city workers alone are $12 billion underfunded.”

“What accounts for Chicago’s miserable performance in the 2000s? The fiscal mess is the easiest part to account for: it is the result of poor leadership and powerful interest groups that benefit from the status quo. Public-union clout is literally written into the state constitution, which prohibits the diminution of state employees’ retirement benefits.”

“Another reason for Chicago’s troubles is that its business climate is terrible, especially for small firms. When the state pushed through the recent tax increases, certain big businesses had the clout to negotiate better deals for themselves.”

“More important is that it hands the 50 aldermen nearly dictatorial control over what happens in their wards, from zoning changes to sidewalk café permits. This dumps political risk onto the shoulders of every would-be entrepreneur, who knows that he must stay on the alderman’s good side to be in business. It’s also a recipe for sleaze: 31 aldermen have been convicted of corruption since 1970.”

“Chicago’s notorious corruption interferes with attempts to fix things. Since 1970, 340 officials in Chicago and Cook County have been convicted of corruption. So have three governors. The corruption has been bipartisan: both Governor George Ryan, a Republican, and Governor Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, are currently in federal prison. A recent study named Chicago the most corrupt city in the United States.”

“But an even greater problem than outright corruption is Chicago’s culture of clout, a system of personal loyalty and influence radiating from city hall. Influencing the mayor, and influencing the influencers on down the line, is how you get things done. There is only one power structure in the city—including not just politicians but the business and social elite and their hangers-on—and it brings to mind the court of Louis XIV: when conflicts do arise, they are palace intrigues.”

“It’s easy to see how fiascoes like the parking-meter lease happen where civic culture is rotten and new ideas can’t get a hearing. Chicago’s location already isolates it somewhat from outside views. Combine that with the culture of clout, and you get a city that’s too often an echo chamber of boosterism lacking a candid assessment of the challenges it faces”

“Chicago also needs something even harder to achieve: wholesale cultural change.”

“These organizations have good reason to fear reprisal for not toeing the line. When Daley signed his disastrous parking-meter deal, an advocacy group called the Active Transportation Alliance issued a critical report. After a furious reaction by the Daley administration, the organization issued a groveling retraction. “I would like to simply state that we should not have published this report,” said executive director Rob Sadowsky. “I am embarrassed that it not only contains factual errors, but that it also paints an incorrect interpretation of the lease’s overall goals.” Sadowsky is no longer in Chicago.”

Link to full article:

http://city-journal.com/2012/22_2_chicago.html

The audit contains the following findings with regard to financial oversight of the City of Evansville during 2011:

1. Fund balances were not reconciled to bank balances for the entire year of 2011. As of July 31, 2012 City officials were still unable to reconcile the ledger to the bank account. (Indiana laws require monthly reconciliation)

2. A materially correct annual report for 2011 was not presented for audit.

3. The City’s financial system was not able to produce basic reports.

4. The auditors were not able to obtain records for which the detail matched the control for 2011.

5. The controls over the receipting, disbursing, recording and accounting of the financial activities due to weakness in input and oversight.

6. Contracts with the City of Evansville and SMG have not been audited since 2005 (7 years).

7. The City of Evansville filed their annual report past the dealine to do so.

8. Utility funds were co-mingled with general funds as were parking fees and a buy money fund. These funds are required to be kept separate.

9. Substantially all of the accounts of the City of Evansville (over 20) were overdrawn at some time in 2011. This is forbidden yet the same thing was cited in the 2010 SBA audit.

10. In the section of the audit of the use of federal funds, a Disclaimer was noted as were material weaknesses in internal controls and non-compliance of financial statements.

Link to SBOA Audit

http://media.courierpress.com/media/static/gh56ftfg2.pdf

This is a developing story;

The results of this spring’s ISTEP+ tests taken by Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation’s students in Grades 3-8 show two-year gains in the English/Language Arts and Mathematics scores in grades 3, 4, 5, and 6.

“We are pleased to have several schools and grade levels scoring above 90% passing ISTEP this year and also to have some big gains in percent passing in the past year. We also have some pass rates that are less than what we desire and we are working on interventions to help raise those numbers,” said Superintendent David Smith. “All students come to the EVSC with different abilities and we are proud that we take each of those children where they are and find ways to motivate and educate them to do their very best.”

Top 3 Schools With
Highest % Passing E/LA

Third grade
Highland: 95%
Scott: 95%
West Terrace: 92%

Fourth grade
Scott: 98%
Oak Hill: 94%
Highland: 91%

Fifth grade
Cynthia Heights: 92%
Oak Hill: 89%
Scott: 84%

Sixth grade
Scott: 92%
Oak Hill: 87%
Plaza Park: 81%

Seventh grade
Perry Heights: 77%
Helfrich Park: 70%
Plaza Park: 67%

Eighth grade
Plaza Park: 73%
Thompkins: 71%
Perry Heights: 70%

Top 3 Schools With
Highest % Passing Math

Third grade
Scott: 92%
Highland: 91%
Oak Hill: 84%

Fourth grade
Scott: 93%
Oak Hill: 91%
Highland: 83%

Fifth grade
Scott: 98%
Highland: 93%
Vogel: 91%

Sixth grade
Oak Hill: 94%
Scott: 93%
Plaza Park: 84%

Seventh grade
Perry Heights: 76%
Thompkins: 76%
Helfrich Park: 73%

Eighth grade
Plaza Park: 79%
Thompkins: 75%
Helfrich Park and Perry Heights: 69%

Smith said the EVSC is enhancing and honing interventions that target academic performance and also social and emotional issues that may be aggravating student performance on the tests.

“Now, more than ever, teachers and administrators are relying on individual student data – focusing on this information in Performance Management sessions, Student Support Groups, and Personal Learning Communities (PLC), bringing everyone together to discuss attendance, social/emotional behaviors, and academic performance – to provide supports to help all students. We want not only those who are struggling to continue to see their test scores climb; but also those who are already passing the test,” Smith said.

Click Here to Download the Albion YWCA Press Release June 13 2012

Exhibition on display through April 2013

Accompanied by drum rolls from the Boom Squad, officials representing the Sculpt EVV juried outdoor sculpture exhibition announced its winners during the Art EVV art and music fair on June 9 in the Haynie’s Corner Arts District.

The winners were:

$20,000 Purchase Award Winner: Saul Melman for Best of All Possible Worlds
$10,000 Best-in-Show: Amelia Toelke for Comings and Goings
$5,000 Second Place: Scott Ross for Attic Frame
$1,000 Third Place: Tom Scicluna for Scheme
$500 People’s Choice: Jonathan Hils for Emperor’s New Clothes

During the event, USI students led tours of the 0.3 mile sculpture walk and discussed the artists and their sculptures. Winners of Sculpt EVV were chosen from among 12 sculptures selected for the exhibition by juror Marilu Knode, executive director of Laumeier Sculpture Park in St. Louis.

Sculpt EVV is on display and open to the public through April 21, 2013. People can enjoy the exhibition by starting at the first site at Washington and Parrett streets next to the Bokeh Lounge. Sculpt EVV maps available at each site will guide visitors around the exhibition.

Sculpt EVV is a partnership between the City of Evansville, the University of Southern Indiana, the Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana, and the Evansville Bicentennial Committee. The Best-in-Show winner for Clay EVV, a companion exhibition organized by Alisa Holen, USI assistant professor of ceramics, was Erin Furminsky for Push. Clay EVV is on display in the Adams Gallery, 56-58 Adams Avenue, on Friday and Saturday through July 6, 2012.