Latest Evansville, Indiana Stories

By MARK WILSON, Courier & Press staff writer 464-7417 or wilsonm@courierpress.com Bristol-Myers Squibb has agreed to a $3.65 million settlement with the federal government over Clean Air Act violations at several of its facilities, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The settlement involves the release of refrigerant chemicals from several Bristol-Myers Squibb facilities in the United States, including Evansville and Mount Vernon, Ind. Instead of the ground-level ozone pollution...

By ROGER McBAIN, Courier & Press staff writer 464-7520 or mcbainr@courierpress.com Magic, fantasy and adventure play principal parts in both open- air features screening at Mesker Amphitheatre Friday and Saturday in this month's Movies at Mesker shows. They all come into play in "Nim's Island" on Friday. The film stars Abigail Breslin as an imaginative young girl who lives in a world of fantasy on an isolated island she inhabits with her father, a scientist. Jodie Foster plays the girl's...

By ROGER McBAIN, Courier & Press staff writer 464-7520 or mcbainr@courierpress.com Magical realism comes to the fictional town of Almost, Maine, for a moonless, midwinter's tale of comical, romantic and sometimes poignant encounters among nine couples featured in Evansville Civic Theatre's latest production. Men and women trip through and fall in and out of love in a series of nine intimate vignettes that play out in John Cariani's romantic comedy opening Friday. If not a dramatic...

By MARK WILSON and JOHN MARTIN, Courier & Press staff writers 464-7417 or wilsonm@courierpress.com 464-7594 or martinj@courierpress.com Area colleges and universities are talking with the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. about programs to let students obtain up to two years of college credit before graduating from high school. Ivy Tech Community College, Vincennes University, the University of Southern Indiana and the University of Evansville have shown interest in early college...

By JOHN MARTIN, Courier & Press staff writer 464-7594 or martinj@courierpress.com Summer school is becoming more vital for a growing number of Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. students. When the percentage of EVSC students graduating in four years increased in 2007 by nine points, to 84 percent, corporation officials were quick to mention summer school as a reason. This summer's program, which was renamed Summer Experience, had nearly 5,100 students enrolled in various programs for...

By JOHN MARTIN, Courier & Press staff writer 464-7594 or martinj@courierpress.com Indiana is one of six states that in the future will tailor assistance to low-income, struggling schools based on the schools' level of need. State Superintendent for Public Instruction Suellen Reed said Indiana is in a pilot program that moves away from "one size fits all" approaches to schools struggling to meet No Child Left Behind standards. The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires increasing...

By MARK WILSON, Courier & Press staff writer 464-7417 or wilsonm@courierpress.com The University of Southern Indiana will break ground on its Business and Engineering Center with a public ceremony and reception at 4 p.m. July 10 at the southwest corner of the USI Quadrangle next to the Technology Center. The 122,500-square-foot center is planned to serve both business and engineering programs, providing dedicated and shared classroom and laboratory space for each. It will include two...

By JOHN MARTIN, Courier & Press staff writer 464-7594 or martinj@courierpress.com Vincent Bertram has routinely worked 14-hour days, plus weekends, since officially becoming Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. superintendent a year ago today. He'll steal a couple of hours here and there to attend his sons' functions, but for the most part, Bertram's pace has been nonstop since he was hired to lead local public schools. "It's how I am," Bertram said when asked about the schedule he keeps....

By JOHN MARTIN, Courier & Press staff writer 464-7594 or martinj@courierpress.com The Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. announced a shakeup of principals on Monday. Here are the new hires, which were approved by the School Board: n Vicki Duncan is the new principal of Scott Elementary School. Duncan, who has been at Dexter Elementary School since 2000, replaces Jane Bartley. Bartley recently was named to EVSC's School Intervention Team. n Duncan's replacement at Dexter is Stephanie...

By JOHN MARTIN, Courier & Press staff writer 464-7594 or martinj@courierpress.com Plans for a large-scale overhaul of Evansville's public school system are moving ahead, but voters still will have the final say this fall. Superintendent Vincent Bertram's proposal for a new North Side high school and middle school, grade alignment shuffles and renovations at other schools and emphasis on preschool, technology and training are to be funded from a $149 million bond issue and also from the...