FOOTNOTE: THE CIYT-COUNTY OBSERVER POSTED THIS LETTER WITHOUT BIAS Â OR EDITING.
Indiana National Guard Two-Star General Retires After 33 Years of Service
INDIANAPOLIS – A retirement ceremony was held for Major General Robert Burke, Thursday, June 22, 2023, at Indiana National Guard Headquarters in Indianapolis.
Burke, a New Hampshire native, began his service with the Indiana National Guard in 1993, after serving on active duty for several years at Fort Carson, Colorado. He received his commission through the Reserve Officer Training Corps at Norwich University in 1989.
During the ceremony, Burke expressed his gratitude and thanked his family for their support throughout his military career.
Burke and his wife, Tina, have four children: Tyler, Kayli, Macy and Kyle.
“We are thankful for Major General Burke’s service to the state of Indiana both as a soldier in the National Guard and as a Trooper with the Indiana State Police,” said Major General Dale Lyles, Adjutant General of Indiana. “He embodies what it means to live here, work here, serve here.”
His most recent position was as the Deputy Commanding General for the historic V Corps, at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Previous assignments include the Deputy Chief of Staff for NATO Multinational Corps in Szczecin, Poland, and serving as commander of the 76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team in Lawrence.
Burke served in multiple leadership roles in the Indiana National Guard, to include leading the 1st Squadron 152nd Cavalry Regiment during a deployment to Iraq in 2008 and serving as the Operations Officer for the 76th Infantry Brigade Combat team in Afghanistan in 2004.
He has numerous decorations and awards to include the Ranger Tab, Combat Infantryman’s Badge, Combat Parachutist Badge, Pathfinder Badge and Bronze Star.
Burke, a resident of Knightstown, currently serves as a Captain with the Indiana State Police, and is in his 30th year of service with the Department.
USI Board of Trustees approve annual budget, student fees
At its regular meeting on Thursday, July 13, the University of Southern Indiana Board of Trustees approved a $127.3 million annual operating budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
University income is derived from two primary sources, tuition and fee revenues, and state appropriations.
The Board also approved miscellaneous fees and reviewed the schedule of student fees and other mandatory fees for 2023-24.
In additional business, the Board approved the disbursement of financial aid awards for the 2023-24 academic year and received an update on current campus construction projects.
USI to host finalists at 40th annual Hagemann Awards for Musical Performance Concert
The University of Southern Indiana’s Philip Hagemann Department of Performing Arts will host the 40th annual Hagemann Awards for Musical Performance Concert, a competition for Posey County, Indiana, high school students, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 19 in Murphy Auditorium in New Harmony, Indiana. The event is open to the public at no charge.
Finalists for this year’s concert are Brenna Julian, piano; Ainsley Pierce, trombone; Jaycee Jarvis, voice; and Alayna Reising, voice. All students were seniors at Mt. Vernon High School during the 2022-23 academic year.
Each finalist will play a 20-minute portion of the concert. The top-scoring performer will receive an $800 award and an Alexander Scholarship (not affiliated with USI). The remaining finalists will receive a $400 award.
UE Volleyball earns 2023 USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award
Program recognized for the 14th time
LEXINGTON, Ky. – For the 14th time in program history, the University of Evansville volleyball team was recognized by the United States Marine Corps and the American Volleyball Coaches Association with the USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award.
As a team, the Purple Aces completed the 2022-23 school year with a cumulative GPA of 3.480. Eight student-athletes hold a cumulative GPA of 3.56 or higher.
“I am very proud of the hours and effort our student-athletes put in every day, not only on the court but also in the classroom,†UE head coach Fernando Morales said.  “UE places such a focus on academics and what our girls are doing in classes while playing Division I volleyball is amazing.  I am so proud of everyone in this team.â€
The award was initiated in the 1992-93 academic year and honors volleyball teams that maintain a year-long grade point average of 3.3 on a 4.0 scale or a 4.1 on a 5.0 scale. In total, 1,333 collegiate and high school volleyball teams were recognized.
IU Swimming and Diving Sends 15 Participants to World Championships
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Fifteen individuals with ties to the Indiana swimming and diving program will compete or coach at the Fukuoka 2023 World Aquatics Championships beginning Friday (July 14).
Eleven athletes and four coaches will represent IU on the world stage this month in three different disciplines: pool swimming, open-water swimming and diving. IU’s participants will also represent five countries, and 10 Hoosiers will compete or coach for Team USA; six with USA Swimming and four with USA Diving.
Indiana head diving coach Drew Johansen will serve as the head coach for USA Diving as the competition begins Friday. Indiana diving alums and Olympians Andrew Capobianco and Jess Parratto as well as sophomore Maxwell Weinrich are slated to compete over the next week.
Open water swimming also kicks off Friday. Junior Mariah Denigan will represent USA Swimming in the women’s 10K and 5K races. Indiana associate head coach Cory Chitwood will serve as an assistant coach for the U.S. open water swimmers.
Pool swimming will begin next Saturday, July 22. Seven Hoosiers will compete in the pool, while Indiana head swimming coach Ray Looze will once again serve as an assistant coach for Team USA. IU assistant coach Luke Ryan will be a member of the Tunisian Swimming Federation’s coaching staff.
Comprehensive coverage of the Fukuoka 2023 World Aquatics Championships will stream on Peacock.
Below is a breakdown of the Indiana swimming and diving affiliated individuals participating at World Championships, with their discipline, country affiliation and event.
| Name | Discipline | Country | Event/Role |
| Drew Johansen* | Diving | United States | Head Coach |
| Andrew Capobianco | Diving | United States | 3m |
| Jess Parratto | Diving | United States | 10m Synchro |
| Maxwell Weinrich* | Diving | United States | Mixed 10m Synchro |
| Cory Chitwood* | Open Water Swimming | United States | Assistant Coach |
| Mariah Denigan* | Open Water Swimming | United States | 5k, 10k |
| Ray Looze* | Swimming | United States | Assistant Coach |
| Lilly King | Swimming | United States | 50m Breaststroke, 100m Breaststroke, 200m Breaststroke |
| Josh Matheny* | Swimming | United States | 100m Breaststroke,
200m Breaststroke |
| Anna Peplowski* | Swimming | United States | 4x200m Freestyle Relay |
| Luke Ryan* | Swimming | Tunisia | Assistant Coach |
| Tomer Frankel* | Swimming | Israel | 50m Butterfly, 100m Butterfly, 100m Freestyle |
| Ching Hwee Gan | Swimming | Singapore | 200m Freestyle, 400m Freestyle, 800m Freestyle, 1500m Freestyle |
| Ahmed Hafnaoui* | Swimming | Tunisia | 400m Freestyle, 800m Freestyle, 1500m Freestyle |
| Rafael Miroslaw* | Swimming | Germany | 200m Freestyle, Relays |
EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT
EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT
FOOTNOTE: Â EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT information was provided by the EPD and posted by the City-County-County Observer without opinion, bias, or editing.
“IS IT TRUE” JULY 14, 2024
We hope that today’s “IS IT TRUE” provokes honest and open dialogue concerning issues that we, as responsible citizens of this community, need to address rationally and responsibly.
City-County Observer Comment Policy. Be kind to people. No personal attacks or harassment will be tolerated and removed from our site.
We understand that sometimes people don’t always agree and discussions may become a little heated. The use of offensive language, or insults against commenters will not be tolerated and will be removed from our site.
IS IT TRUE that Mayor Terry recently announced that the State Board Of Accounts is currently conducting a financial audit/review of the books of the outgoing Winnecke administration? …many taxpayers are looking forward to Mayor Terry the audit results being made public?
IS IT TRUE that Evansville is also facing many hundreds of millions of dollars of additional bond debt because of numerous unfinished big-ticket capital Water and Sewer projects, making needed repairs and improvements to city parks, and repairing and repaving many of our crumbling city streets?
IS IT TRUE that Evansville is also facing many hundreds of millions of dollars of additional bond debt because of numerous unfinished big-ticket capital Water and Sewer projects, making needed repairs and improvements to city parks, and repairing and repaving many of our crumbling city streets?IS IT TRUE that many months ago members of the Evansville City Council agreed to sell the naming rights of 24 city streets to raise 9 million dollars to pay for renovations costs at the Ford Center?
IS IT TRUE that we have been told that not one naming rights to any of the 24 City Streets were sold? …we wonder where members of the City Council got the 9 million dollars to make needed repairs on the FORD CENTER?
IS IT TRUE that many Evansville taxpayers are extremely puzzled why members of the Evansville City Council decided to give 9 million dollars to E-ERP to help the well-healed Developer pay to build the underground parking garage at 420 Main?
IS IT TRUE that we have also been told that this proposed project may have several financial moving parts concerning this multi-million dollar capital project? …that we look forward to hearing the details concerning the costs of the companion capital projects in Warrick, Posey, and Gibson) counties?
IS IT TRUE that “The Southwest Indiana Regional Development Authority” is where E-REP gets its development funds? …that members of the Indiana General Assembly voted to give E-Rep the statutory authority to levy a tax on any project shortfall costs on the property owners in Vanderburgh, Warrick, Gibson, and Posey counties?
IS IT TRUE that free government money always comes with strings attached?
IS IT TRUE what government giveth they can also taketh away?
IS IT TRUE that one of the hardest words for our local politicians to say during a budget hearing is the word “NO”?
IS IT TRUE we wonder when Mayor Terry and members of the City Council will make
public their plans to repair and repave our city streets, make needed repairs to our parks, and find ways to cut the annual million-dollar losses at the Ford Center and make some major cuts to the 2024 budget?
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The City-County Observer is a strong supporter of law enforcement and first responders.
Our publisher is at home and doing better after he had a freak accident (Traumatic Brain Injury) on January 29, 2024. He’s now receiving extensive Rehab therapy 4 days a week. He will have to continue relying on Johnny Kincaid and Jay Young, his wife Marilyn, his family members, and friends to help publish the City-County Observer for a while. We would also like to thank the many CCO readers for their prayers of healing for Ron.
Today’s Readers Poll question is: