EVSC School Board Approves JAG Program for Academy for Innovative Studies
The Board of School Trustee for the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation has approved a partnership with Vincennes University to provide the Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) Program to selected students at the Academy for Innovative Studies.
Vincennes University will provide an instructor, a career building curriculum, assessments, interest inventories, and numerous opportunities to gain work experience and exposure to various careers for students in the JAG program.
“In order to qualify for JAG, students must demonstrate that they are motivated to graduate and successfully complete the program,†said Kristine Eichholz, assistant director of AIS-First Avenue. “Students must also meet income guidelines and JAG instructors prefer juniors or seniors. Staff members were asked to nominate students for the JAG class based on behavior, attendance, motivation, and grades.â€
The instructor will be housed at AIS for one day each week at each of the AIS campuses and will work with selected students at each campus to determine their career interests, do workshops on resume building, interview skills, and put them in situations where they have an opportunity to use the skills they have learned, including internship opportunities. JAG will also provide guest speakers, college visits, and learning opportunities to all students at both campuses.
“Our students have been extremely interested in this program. They ask every day if they have been nominated, and they quickly point out their attributes that make them JAG material,†Eichholz added.
Karen Scheessele, director of special services for the EVSC said, “The EVSC and Vincennes University have worked extremely hard to bring the JAG Program to students at AIS. It has the potential to make a profound impact in the lives of students who are selected to participate. This is a true example of bringing learning to life.â€
Funding for the program will be at no cost to the EVSC. It is provided through the Workforce Investment Act.
IS IT TRUE it appeared as though there were some citizens who showed up at last night’s meeting of the Evansville City Council as the CCO had recommended?…we have no way of knowing how many tuned in to the WNIN broadcast of that meeting that saw a Finance Committee meeting that nearly lasted for four hours?…there was plenty of controversy and enlightenment offered up on the hot button issues of Roberts Stadium and AuditGATE and that there is a more clear understanding of both as a result of some of the dialog?…there was exactly ZERO public comment at the end of that meeting so we must assume that the public has decided not to have any say in the matter while standing before the City Council?…that some of the constituency of Evansville must have been using the phone, emails, or letters to let their Councilpeople know how they feel because those communications were openly discussed during the meeting?…for the first time in a while it seemed as though the City Council actually did two things they are supposed to do before acting?…those things are to listen and to think?
IS IT TRUE that this writer was party to a parking lot removal process in Vanderburgh County in 1999?…that particular project was in the unincorporated county, did not pay prevailing wages as the City of Evansville will have to as an entitlement city, and did not involve any filling of a hole afterward?…the cost of that removal was $3.00 per square foot?…that it would be rash to think that government can do this for less than double that amount?…any way one runs the numbers the removal of a parking lot that accommodates over 3,000 cars at $6 a square foot works out to about $750,000?…this is from the CCO who projected last year that the demolition of Roberts would be about $1 Million when the Weinzapfel Administration and Rector were bouncing between FREE AND $200,000?…this is from the same CCO writer that projected in the summer of 2010 that the downtown hotel would have a value of about $20 Million yet cost $40 Million when all was said and done?…that once again a project seems to have started out like a CARNIVAL SIDESHOW GAME enticing the people of Evansville into the game with promises of FREE work and a Park to play in?
IS IT TRUE that Councilman Adams made a strong constituent based case for auctioning Roberts off and putting it back on the tax rolls even if it only brought $10?…that echoes the sentiments of CCO poster and sometimes author Brad Linzy?…Dr. Adams was correct in his assertion that selling the stadium has not even been given serious thought or consideration?…the CCO has consistently advocated that if Roberts has to be decommissioned that selling to a private entity is the best move and that demolition with public money is a last resort?…that now that we know that the complete demolition will approach $2 Million or more that should be etched in stone?…we completely agree with Councilwoman Mosby who clearly stated that “Evansville cannot afford another park at this timeâ€?…that Councilman Dan McGinn made a well researched plea to proceed to demolition but not with a park on the basis of “these old buildings are bleeding Evansville to deathâ€?…Councilman McGinn cited the Old Court House, the Old Post Office, and the Greyhound Bus Station as old architecturally significant buildings that have bled the City of cash for years while being sparsely used?…McGinn even compared the architecture of Roberts Stadium to a utilitarian facility designed by the former USSR?…he has a point and as usual it was well thought through?…Roberts is actually more Classic Midwest than Klassic Khrushchev but we understand the comment?
IS IT TRUE that when all was said and done the City Council voted 6 – 3 to remove the transfer of $187,000 into the demolition fund?…that the City of Evansville is so poor with managing money that even old Dave Rector had not been paid for work done at Roberts and Mesker?…this was just the latest exposure of utter ineptness in the management of local government?…the incompetence exhibited in the whole Roberts fiasco has been of monumental proportions but it does not compare with what the other 3 hours of last night’s meeting covered which will be the topic of IS IT TRUE Part 2?
The University of Evansville’s Department of History is pleased to welcome Craig L. Symonds, PhD, for the annual Thomas C. Fiddick Memorial Lecture.
Symonds, professor emeritus of history at the United States Naval Academy, will present “Lincoln and the Navy in the Civil War†at 7 p.m. Friday, October 26 in Eykamp Hall, Room 251A. His lecture is free and open to the public.
“We are very excited to have Craig Symonds coming, as he is undoubtedly the world’s leading expert on Abraham Lincoln and the Navy in the Civil War,†said James MacLeod, UE professor of history and director of the Thomas C. Fiddick Memorial Lecture. “As 150th anniversary commemorations continue, this is a wonderful opportunity for people in the Tri-State to hear one of the Naval Academy’s most distinguished professors speaking on a topic that he knows so much about. People are always fascinated by Lincoln, but Lincoln’s role as commander-in-chief, especially as commander of the Navy, is one that most people don’t know much about. They will be captivated by Professor Symonds’ lecture.â€
Symonds is the first person to win both the Naval Academy’s Excellence in Teaching award (1988) and its Excellence in Research award (1998). He also served as history department chair from 1988 to 1992, and received the Department of the Navy’s Superior Civilian Service medal three times. After retiring in 2005, he returned to the Academy in 2011-12 to serve a year as the Class of 1957 Distinguished Chair of American Naval History.
Symonds is the author or editor of 25 books, including prize-winning biographies of Joseph E. Johnston (1992), Patrick Cleburne (1997), and Franklin Buchanan (1999), as well as The American Heritage History of the Battle of Gettysburg (2001). Decision at Sea: Five Naval Battles that Shaped American History (2006) won the Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Prize for Naval History the year it was published. His 2008 book, Lincoln and His Admirals: Abraham Lincoln, the U.S. Navy, and the Civil War, won the Barondess Prize, the Laney Prize, the Lyman Prize, the Lincoln Prize, and the Abraham Lincoln Institute Book Award. Symonds also won the Nevins-Freeman Prize in 2009. His latest work is The Battle of Midway, published by Oxford University Press in October 2011. He lives in Annapolis, Maryland.
Thomas Fiddick, for whom the Fiddick Memorial Lecture is named, served as professor of history at the University of Evansville from 1963 to 2002. In the 39 years he spent at the University, he was a dedicated teacher, a productive scholar, and a tireless fighter in the cause of justice. His untimely death on the day of his retirement in 2002 stunned the entire University of Evansville community, especially his many former students. It was from the former students’ efforts in particular, with the support of Fiddick’s friends and the University, that the annual Thomas C. Fiddick Memorial Lecture was established.
The application that you can download to your phone showing vote centers, now shows the early voting site locations. There will not be a “wait time†on the early sites, but it will show where the sites are. The vote center sites will be back on the application November 4th.
Go to your apps on your cell phone and search Vanderburgh County Elections, then you can download the app. And remember……we are the only county in the world that has this.
Held in Conjunction with Old National Bank Boo at the Zoo
Evansville, IN – Participate in Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden’s 2nd annual Scarecrow Contest, Presented by Monsanto! Create a scarecrow big or small, silly or serious, frightening or friendly! Zoo visitors will vote on their favorite Scarecrow between October 15th & 20th! Scarecrows will be displayed from October 15th – November 1st, 2012.
Being a part of this event is easy! Choose between the following two categories: Family/Individual or Business/Organization. First Place Grand Prize: $250 CASH plus prizes valuing more than $500! Second Place Prize: $50 CASH plus prizes valuing more than $500! Deadline to register: October 13th! Turn in your registration form and Scarecrow this Saturday, October 13th. Registration form and more information are available here.
Mitt Romney no longer trails Barack Obama in the Pew Research Center’s presidential election polling. By about three-to-one, voters say Romney did a better job than Obama in the Oct. 3 debate, and the Republican is now better regarded on most personal dimensions and on most issues than he was in September. Romney is seen as the candidate who has new ideas and is viewed as better able than Obama to improve the jobs situation and reduce the budget deficit.
Fully 66% of registered voters say Romney did the better job in last Wednesday’s debate, compared with just 20% who say Obama did better. A majority (64%) of voters who watched
the debate describe it as mostly informative; just 26% say it was mostly confusing.
In turn, Romney has drawn even with Obama in the presidential race among registered voters (46% to 46%) after trailing by nine points (42% to 51%) in September. Among likely voters, Romney holds a slight 49% to 45% edge over Obama. He trailed by eight points among likely voters last month.
Councilman John Friend, CPA: The man whose petition started the movement that led to teh NO VOTE for the Vectren fee INTERNAL CONTROLS
Input Controls:
a. No central point of journal entry control
b. Under a system of batch entry, input would be more accurate
c. Failure in the internal auditor function and reporting protocol. This oversight would have revealed the reconciliation failure.
d. Generally, the independent auditors do their testing procedures during the interims, i.e. testing of systems commence in the eight or nine month of the calendar or fiscal years, if the SBOA would modify their auditing techniques by advancing the those testing procedures, failure in internal controls may be prevented in the future.
BUY MONEY – POLICE (CITY)
a. In order to assist law enforcement, the Buy-Money
Program should adhere to IC 36-1-3 and, accordingly, the Administration needs to draft an ordinance and the Common Council pass to establish the fund.
PARKING METER FEES (CITY)
a. The Administration needs to establish a special fund
The parking meter fees will be directly deposited in accordance with IC 36-9-12-4.
SEPARATION OF BANK ACCOUNTS
a. The Utility funds are being deposited in the City bank
Account. The Administration needs to establish a separate bank accounts for the Utility only.
CONTRACTS (CITY)
a. The audit of SMG has never been performed in
Accordance with the contract between the City and SMG for 2006, and subsequent to 2006, a reviewed financial statement. It appears that Harding Shymanski was engaged to perform. We as the Common Council request a status report on those engagements and, if completed, a full report on the subsistence.
OVERDRAWN CASH BALANCES
a. Various funds are overdrawn during the calendar year
Due to the timing of the receipt of taxes, generally, property tax. The public would believe that we have over-drafted our checking account, but, these funds are comprised in one or two bank accounts. So, fund A has large balances, while Fund B is in the negative, but, the combined amounts are positive. Nevertheless, according to state law, this can NOT happen during the calendar year. As such, the Administration needs to request from the Common Council, at the direction of the Administration, by temporary ordinance, to loan funds from those funds that are un-restricted and not subject to grant provisions, whereby, any loan would be repaid before year’s end.
BANK ACCOUNT RECONCILIATIONS
a. In accordance to Indiana Code 5-13-6-1(e) “All local
Investment officers (Controller) must reconcile at least monthly to their financial institutions†As such, it should be the responsibility of the Internal Auditor to report the failure of the chief financial officer (Controller) to reconcile any and all public funds to the appropriate financial institution and that report should be presented to the President of the Common Council and the Chairman of the Finance Committee without repercussions.
ANNUAL REPORT
a. As specified in the Indiana Code 5-11-1-4(a), the City’s annual report must be posted on Gate-Way by the 1st day of March for the preceding year. The City has failed to file the annual report several times in the past. As such, the Internal Auditor should report to the Common Council and to the SBOA that the annual report has been filed on a timely basis.
PRESCRIBED FORMS
a. The Munis software fails to produce forms No. 208 &
209. These reports are imperative to the proper presentation of the books and records of the City of Evansville. The Common Council directs the Administration to correct the weakness in our software to allow the appropriate forms.
FINANCIAL REPORT OPINION MODICATIONS
a. The Munis software failed to produce the
Transactional detail necessary to verify to the control totals, i.e. the check book total did not match the bank reconciliation. We, the Common Council, at the direction of the Administration, will provide the necessary resources to correct the City’s IT weaknesses.
b. By allowing the general ledger to remain open until
July of 2012, the year-end control total of the published fund balances were affected by transactions in the current period causing the corruption of the data. The Common Council strongly suggest that the previous years ledgers be close promptly after the filing of the annual report. Any and all adjustments should be made in the current periods and reconciled back to those balances.
c. Within the Utility, the financial system was recorded
On the accrual basis of accounting. Although required by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, the Utility must keep their reporting on the cash basis for the purpose of examination. In regards to the IURC, monthly entries should be reviewed and coordinated to convert the cash basis system producing accrual financial statements. Those entries should be reversed on the first day of the month.
INTERNAL CONTROLS OVER MAJOR
PROGRAMS IN ACCORDANCE WITH
OMB CIRCULAR A-133
FEDERAL GRANTS
INTERNAL CONTROLS OVER FINANCIAL
TRANSACTIONS AND REPORTING
a. Although, the SBOA, presented to the City an
Unqualified Opinion as to the adherence to the provisions of the City’s major Federal Grants, the SBOA cited the same weaknesses in the internal controls relative to the accuracy of the City’s financial reporting. As such, the action by the Common Council is reiterated per the above in reference to expected action of the City’s Internal Auditor. However, the SBOA disclaimed in regards to the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards citing the aforementioned weaknesses.
b. Monitoring of Controls – The SBOA has directed the
Common Council to better understand and develop where necessary controls to assure the compliance thereof. As such, the Common Council should draft an ordinance whereby the Internal Auditor should be responsible to report any violations of those identified controls to the Council. In addition, the Common Council should engage experienced and qualified consultants to monitor and recommend further strengthening of controls.
This feature is sponsored by Chris Walsh For Vanderburgh County Clerk. Chris Walsh is a veteran county administrator that strongly supports our local law enforcement professionals . Chris Walsh is a candidate that possess a non-partisan attitude with a consumer friendly demeanor. Chris also stands against unification of city and county governments.
This ad paid for by the committiee to elect Walsh Clerk.
VANDERBURGH COUNTY FELONY CHARGES
Evansville, IN – Below is a list of felony cases that were filed by the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office on Friday, October 5, 2012.
Monty Brown Battery Resulting in Bodily Injury – Class D Felony
Thomas Clayton Operating a Vehicle with a BAC of .08 or More – Class C 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)
Shellie Jones Intimidation – Class D Felony
Criminal Trespass – Class A Misdemeanor
Battery –Class A Misdemeanor
Resisting Law Enforcement – Class A Misdemeanor
Disorderly Conduct – Class B Misdemeanor
Jackie Lawson Intimidation – Class D Felony (Two Counts)
Interference with the Reporting of a Crime – Class A Misdemeanor
Kristen Kirk Theft – Class D Felony
For further information on the cases listed above, or any pending case, please contact Carly Settles at 812.435.5688 or via e-mail at csettles@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
Keep Evansville Beautiful Annual Awards Luncheon
to Honor Business and Individuals for Beautification Efforts
Evansville, Indiana
Keep Evansville Beautiful will host its 20th Annual Awards Luncheon on
Wednesday, October 10, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Casino Aztar Conference Center, the Walnut
Room, 421 NW Riverside Drive.
END
The University of Evansville’s Department of History is pleased to welcome Craig L. Symonds, PhD, for the annual Thomas C. Fiddick Memorial Lecture.
