Operations are returning to normal at Bally’s after a strange incident this morning.
In the midst of the normal morning routine at Bally’s Casino, the sense of normal disappeared in one frightening moment when a car came crashing through the roof of the conference center. That car came from the top floor of the attached parking garage.
At the time of the crash, Koorsen Fire and Safety was hosting a conference for building inspectors and firefighters at the site. Koorsen is the fire protection company for Bally’s, and they aided in getting the building’s systems turned off. Firefighters and others attending the conference rendered aid at the scene.
The vehicle hit a concrete barrier, causing it to drop through the roof of the conference center, followed by the Ford SUV. The driver of the vehicle was the only injury.
A crane was brought in during the afternoon to lift the SUV and the concrete barrier out of the conference center.
The unanswered question is, “Why?” Police are putting together all of the information, looking at video footage, and planning to talk to the driver to determine what happened.
Bally’s was able to continue with normal casino operations through the day today and the parking garage will remain close until further notice.
Bally’s released the following statement: “We are currently investigating an incident involving a vehicle that drove off the seventh floor of our parking garage and will provide updates as necessary. Upon initial review, the incident appears to be the result of driver error. There are no signage or structural issues with the parking garage. The safety of our guests and staff remains our top priority.”
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – AJ Casey reset his career scoring mark as he finished with 24 points on Wednesday evening to lead the University of Evansville men’s basketball team in a 79-69 loss to Murray State at the Ford Center.
Another efficient shooting effort saw Casey go 10-of-13 from the floor while adding a triple and five boards. He is the first UE player this season to record 10 field goals in a game. Josh Hughes scored 14 points while Bryce Quinet added 13. James Dyson-Merwe led the team with six boards while Leif Moeller added five assists.
“Our effort tonight was really good. We did a nice job of executing our game plan especially in the first half,” UE head coach David Ragland said. “They finished the first half on a 12-0 run, but I am proud of how we fought back throughout the second half. Towards the end of the game, we had a few guys in foul trouble and Murray State was able to rotate guys in and that made a difference. Our group left everything out on the floor tonight and played for one another.”
Murray State hit its first three shots to take a 6-2 advantage. AJ Casey had a nice start for the Purple Aces scoring his team’s opening seven tallies as MSU held an 8-7 edge just over two minutes in. Bryce Quinet’s 3-point play put Evansville in front for the first time at 10-8 as UE would lead throughout the middle portion of the half.
Trent Hundley’s layup solidified a 14-11 edge at the 12:25 mark before two Quinet free throws with 8:17 left in the period gave UE its largest lead of the half at 20-16. Evansville’s defense held the Racers to 2-for-10 over the stretch as UE wrestled away the two-possession advantage.
The Racers stormed back with nine in a row to retake a 25-20 lead entering the final six minutes of the period, however, the Aces answered ones again when James Dyson-Merwe tied the game at 30-30 with 2:50 remaining until the break. Murray State regained control in the final moments, outscoring UE by a 12-0 margin to take a 42-30 lead into halftime. MSU drained their final four shots, including a pair of triples, to take the double-digit advantage.
Josh Hughes and Casey posted the first two field goals of the second half to quickly cut the deficit to eight. With MSU up 45-35, UE got even closer when Dyson-Merwe and Quinet converted back-to-back buckets to make it a 45-39 game inside of the 17-minute mark. Following a Racer score, the Aces continued to fight back with AJ Casey doing the damage. Six in a row by the senior got his squad all the way back within two points (47-45) with 14:56 on the clock. Casey’s efforts capped a 15-5 start to the stanza by the Purple Aces.
Holding onto a 49-47 edge, Murray State slowly added to its lead with a pair of free throws at the 10:30 mark that pushed the lead to 58-51. The Aces refused to give in and continued to claw their way back. Six in a row over the next 1:16 made it a 1-point game. Alex Hemenway got things rolling with a jumper while Kaia Berridge found Hughes for the alley-oop before Quinet completed the stretch with a layup.
UE remained within a possession over the next two minutes before the Racers slowly took control. A triple by JJ Traynor pushed the lead back to seven (68-61) with 6:37 left before a jumper gave MSU a 74-63 edge as the game entered its final three minutes. In total, the Racers outscored UE by a 16-4 margin to take their largest lead of 14 points as they turned a 63-61 lead into a 79-65 advantage. They held UE to 2-of-9 from the field while forcing a pair of turnovers.
A pair of late baskets closed the gap in the final moments as the Racers finished the night with a 79-69 victory. Evansville shot a season-high 50.9% while holding the Racers to 45.8%. The Racers connected on seven triples while UE was 1-for-12 from long distance. MSU also finished with a 36-32 rebounding advantage.
On Saturday, the Aces travel to Indiana State for a 12 p.m. CST game against the Sycamores inside the Hulman Center.
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INDIANAPOLIS – Yesterday, Jan. 5, State Rep. Alex Burton (D-Evansville) unveiled the House Democrats’ 2026 Working Hoosiers Agenda. The agenda centers on bringing down the cost of living and prioritizes measures to build an Indiana where Hoosiers can get ahead rather than get by.
Those measures include bringing utility costs down; lowering health care costs and protecting Hoosiers from medical debt; helping Hoosiers buy their first home through housing reform; delivering accessible, affordable and safe child care to working families; and keeping Indiana safe for all Hoosiers.
Burton issued the following statement in support of the Working Hoosiers Agenda:
“Hoosiers are working hard, but for too many households the cost of living keeps climbing faster than earned wages. The Working Hoosiers Agenda is about putting people first by stabilizing and lowering monthly costs, protecting families from medical debt, helping first-time homeowners, supporting working parents, ensure child care affordability and making sure every Hoosier is safe in their neighborhood. This is a practical, people-focused agenda that prioritize working families, while advocating for policies that position a real shot at getting ahead.”
See the full Working Hoosiers Agenda below:
Priority 1: Provide immediate financial relief on utility bills
Eliminate the sales tax on residential utility use
Protect Hoosiers from being overcharged by limiting excessive utility company profit margins
Pause skyrocketing rate hikes
Get big utilities out of politics by ending the appointment of political cronies to consumer watchdog positions and banning spending on political contributions and gifts
Priority 2: Keep Hoosiers healthy through affordable health coverage and guardrails on medical debt
Cap insurance premiums
Implement a state health exchange
Stop medical debt from impacting credit scores
Priority 3: Create generational wealth by empowering more Hoosier homeowners
Help Hoosiers save for their first home by creating tax-free savings accounts for home purchases
Establish a first-time homebuyer grant program funded by a tax on investor-owned properties
Institute a property tax credit to deliver real and immediate relief for homeowners
Priority 4: Deliver accessible, affordable and safe childcare for working families
Create a public-private partnership program to split childcare costs between employers, the state of Indiana and parents
Save families money through a childcare tax credit
Fully fund Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) vouchers to keep daycare centers open and parents at work
Priority 5: Keep Hoosiers safe in their homes and neighborhoods
Fund the police, fire, and EMS by taking Senate Enrolled Act 1 back to the drawing board and inviting more public input
Keep violent offenders off the streets
Deter violent crimes against law enforcement officers through sentencing enhancements
Indiana lawmakers hope to crack down on doxing after more than a dozen of their own became victims of threats amid a turbulent but unsuccessful redistricting campaign.
Doxing is the public release of someone’s personal information, without their consent, as a threat.
Senate Bill 140 would make that a Class A misdemeanor, or a felony if the doxing results in serious injury or death.
“Basically it’s what Sen. (Spencer) Deery and Sen. (Greg) Goode and Sen. (Jean) Leising and several others over the redistricting … experienced,” said bill author Sen. Vaneta Becker, R-Evansville, told the Senate’s Corrections and Criminal Law committee Tuesday.
Targeted lawmakers included those for and against President Donald Trump’s failed push to eliminate Indiana’s two Democratic congressional seats in favor of a 9-0 Republican delegation, ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Those included swatting attempts at lawmakers’ homes — hoax reports to emergency services intended to trigger armed responses — plus bomb threatsand more.
“I was threatened to have my family killed in front of me, whereafter I would be killed,” redistricting bill author Rep. Ben Smaltz, R-Auburn, revealed mid-meeting last month.
Indiana State Police are leading an ongoing investigation into the intimidation against lawmakers.
While Tuesday’s discussion centered on lawmakers impacted during redistricting, everyday Americans are increasingly seeing their personal information spread across social media as retaliation for a wide range of disagreements.
Becker’s legislation would criminalize intentionally posting the personal information of a targeted person — or close connections — as a threat, in retaliation for something legal the targeted person did.
Personal information would include someone’s Social Security number, address or phone number, along with the name or address of their employer or places they frequent.
The definition for threat pulls from the state’s intimidation statute. Posts to social media would count, as would emails and other forms of electronic communication.
Tweaks to some of the bill’s definitions are expected.
Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne, said the bill’s definition of a “closely connected” person was too vague. It would include the target’s spouse, sibling, child, parent and grandparent, but also an unrelated person living in the same household, a dating partner or a coworker.
Committee Chair Aaron Freeman, R-Indianapolis, assured her he would clarify the “broad” language in an amendment on Friday, before a vote on the bill.
Sen. Aaron Freeman, R-Indianapolis, speaks in committee on March 11, 2025. (Photo by Whitney Downard/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
“There’s a lot of benefit to people that disagree getting together and talking about it, and we do that all the time,” Freeman said later.
“How anybody is 45 years old, living in their mother’s basement and never having a relationship with anybody, and getting on a computer and doing this stuff? ” Freeman said. “… My God, can we be adults about this?”
He especially bemoaned the targeting of families with children.
The Class A misdemeanor created in Becker’s bill could rise to a Level 6 felony if a post results in serious bodily injury, or a Level 5 felony if it results in catastrophic injury or death.
Included are protections for those who make reports to law enforcement, prosecutors, and the Department of Child Services “reasonably and in good faith.”
The bill additionally appears to protect constituent communication and organizing, protecting those who engage in “lawful and constitutionally protected activity as it pertains to speech, assembly, and petition.”
STATEHOUSE (Jan. 6, 2026) – A bill authored by State Rep. Tim O’Brien (R-Evansville) would classify emergency medical services as essential under Indiana law.
House Bill 1251 would formally recognize EMS as an essential public service, similar to police and fire departments. O’Brien said this classification emphasizes the importance of EMS first responders and the need to address shortages in areas that are currently underserved by emergency ambulance services.
“Emergency medical services, including ambulance services, play a vital role in safeguarding public health, safety and welfare,” O’Brien said. “In too many areas, especially rural communities, people worry about whether an ambulance will arrive quickly when they call 911. This bill is about recognizing EMS as essential and making sure counties are identifying areas in need and covering those lapses.”
O’Brien authored a law in 2024 to have the Indiana Department of Homeland Security conduct a comprehensive overview of EMS services across the state. The report found significant gaps in EMS staffing levels across districts, notable variation in basic and advanced life support services across counties, including no coverage in some townships, and difficulty recruiting and retaining EMS workers in certain areas.
O’Brien said his bill would also have county commissioners identify underserved areas and contract with providers to establish EMS services.
House Bill 1251 was referred to the House Veterans Affairs and Public Safety Committee for consideration. To learn more about the bill and follow session, visit iga.in.gov.
A bigger whooping than when the devil went down to Georgia
Attorney General Todd Rokita and his legal team today celebrated a major victory for life after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit unanimously affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by the Satanic Temple challenging Indiana’s landmark 2022 pro-life law.
The federal appeals court ruled that the Satanic Temple lacked standing to bring its claims, meaning it failed to show any real injury to itself or its members from Indiana’s prohibitions on telehealth abortions and related criminal penalties. This decision upholds the lower court’s ruling and reinforces Indiana’s strong protections for unborn life.
“This lawsuit was ridiculous from the start, but this unanimous court decision is a critical victory because it continues to uphold our pro-life law that is constitutionally and legally rock-solid,” Attorney General Todd Rokita said. “Our state has proudly built a strong culture of life, and no satanic cult—or any extremist group—is going to stop us.”
The case stemmed from the Satanic Temple’s attempt to operate a telehealth abortion clinic in Indiana, claiming its “Satanic Abortion Ritual” entitled it to exemptions under the U.S. Constitution and Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The Seventh Circuit rejected the lawsuit on jurisdictional grounds, declining to reach the merits.
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v. Wade in the 2022 Dobbs case, Indiana was the first state in the nation to enact a sweeping pro-life law.
Attorney General Rokita thanked his team for their work on this case, mentioning in particular the strong efforts of Solicitor General James Barta and former Deputy Solicitor General Jenna Lorence—who, since successfully arguing this appeal, was appointed Alaska’s Solicitor General.
“We’re proud to have secured another win that keeps Indiana’s pro-life law firmly in place,” Solicitor General James Barta said. “This unanimous ruling is a major step forward for protecting unborn life, and we’re grateful to stand with Hoosier families in defending these essential safeguards.”
Attorney General Rokita has consistently defended Indiana’s commonsense pro-life laws against multiple challenges, securing victories that protect women and unborn children across the state.
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – On Thursday, the University of Evansville women’s basketball team looks to build off their first MVC win of the year when they travel to Carbondale, Ill. to take on Southern Illinois. Tip-off is set for 6 PM. Series History
– Thursday marks the 61st meeting between Evansville and Southern Illinois
– SIU leads the series 32-28
– Last season, the Aces and Salukis split the season series, with each team winning at home
– The Aces have won two of the last three match-ups, but the Salukis hold an 8-2 advantage in the last 10 meetings
– Evansville last won in Carbondale in 2016-17
Impact Freshmen
– Evansville has seen a number of freshmen make an impact of their first season of collegiate basketball
– Sydney Huber has made eight starts and played an average of 21.3 minutes per game. The sharpshooter has connected on 20 three-pointers and scored 5.9 ppg
– Backcourt mate BreAunna Ward has started six games and played 17.3 ppg
– Georgia Ferguson has made an impact in the frontcourt, appearing in all 14 games with three starts, scoring 5.2 ppg while racking up a team-leading 12 blocks
Double the Fun
– In Evansville’s win over Valpo on Friday, Camryn Runner recorded her second career double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds
– Runner’s 13 rebounds were a career-high and the most by an Ace in a game this season
– Runner is one of three MVC guards with multiple double-doubles this season, while her double-double against the Beacons was the second by a guard in MVC play this year
– Entering the weekend, Runner ranks eighth in the MVC with 16.1 ppg and is one of three Valley players to average 16-plus points and 5.5-plus rebounds per game
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Evansville Otters are excited to announce the hiring of Trevor Lakins as the ninth General Manager in team history.
“We are thrilled to have Trevor as General Manager of the Otters,” Otters Team President John Stanley said. “Trevor’s experience in baseball management, his love of the game, and his overall enthusiasm will make him a popular and effective leader.”
Lakins, a native of Knoxville, Tenn., joins the Otters after spending nearly a decade in different baseball front offices across the country. Lakins spent the 2025 season as Director of Corporate Partnerships for the Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, the Triple-A Affiliate for the New York Yankees.
“I want to thank Mr. Bill Bussing and Mr. John Stanley for the opportunity to lead an organization as prestigious as the Evansville Otters,” Lakins said. “I am looking forward to continuing the long-standing tradition of the rich history of baseball in Evansville and Otterball, make sure to come out to Bosse Field on Thursday, May 7th to celebrate the opening of the 2026 season!”
Prior to his time in Triple-A, Lakins spent two seasons within independent baseball from 2023-’24 as the Assistant General Manager for the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the Atlantic League.
“We are pleased to welcome Trevor to the Otters’ family,” Otters Owner Bill Bussing said. “His wealth of experience should enable us to continue to offer compelling entertainment to the Tri-State.”
Lakins has a rich sales background, including a season as the Director of Sales for the Lake County Captains, the High-A Affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians in 2022.
Throughout his collegiate years, Lakins continued his work within baseball front offices. Like most of the Otters front office, Lakins also built his career in baseball up from seasonal work, getting his start as an Assistant Groundskeeper and Food and Beverage Intern in his first two seasons within professional baseball with the Tennessee Smokies, the Double-A Affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.
Lakins graduated from East Tennessee State University with a degree in Business Management. When he isn’t at the ballpark, Lakins enjoys golfing and snowboarding.
Six of the Otters’ eight full-time staff members began their tenure with the Otters as interns and worked their way to full-time positions. 2026 summer internship applications are open now on TeamWork Online here. If interested, applicants are encouraged to apply quickly as positions are filling quickly.
Season tickets and group offerings are available now for the 2026 season. Single game tickets will go on sale in February.
