INDIANAPOLIS (May 10, 2023)— On Saturday, June 3, more than 50 Indiana food artisans, producers, and makers will set up shop at the Indiana State Fairgrounds and Event Center for the Indiana Grown June Marketplace. This one-day event is a one-stop shop for finding your favorite food, wine, spirits, flowers, art, ceramics, and more!
The Indiana Grown June Marketplace will be held in the Agriculture/Horticulture building at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, with parking available onsite. Stop by on June 3 to shop and experience vendors from all over the state in one convenient location from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (ET).
WHAT: Indiana Grown’s June Marketplace
WHO: More than 50 Indiana food artisans, producers, and makers
WHEN: Saturday, June 3, 2023, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (ET)
WHERE:Â Indiana State Fairgrounds and Event Center – Agriculture/Horticulture Building (1202 E 38th St, Indianapolis, IN 46205)
Visit IndianaGrown.org for more information about Indiana Grown and its members.
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Note to the press: The image below is Indiana Grown member, Tamika Catchings of Tea’s Me Cafe, who will be one of the many vendors at the June Marketplace on June 3.
ABOUT INDIANA GROWN Indiana Grown is administered by the Indiana State Department of Agriculture in partnership with the lieutenant governor’s office. The initiative educates consumers on the importance of buying Indiana Grown products, helps Indiana farmers and producers sell more products and supports Indiana businesses in their efforts to process more Indiana Grown products. Indiana Grown members and partners include farmers, producers, processors and artisans, as well as retailers, grocers, hospitals and restaurants. For more information, visit indianagrown.org.
CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Missouri Valley Conference has announced the All-Conference Teams and specialty award winners on Wednesday morning ahead of the MVC Softball Championship.
Earning recognition from the University of Evansville softball team were Marah Wood and Zoe Frossard. Wood earned a spot on the All-MVC Second Team while Frossard garnered MVC All-Defensive Team honors.
Wood earned All-Conference recognition for the first time in her career after batting .260 with four home runs, 21 runs batted in and 19 runs scored. Between April 11 and April 30, Wood posted a 12-game hit streak, which was the longest of the season for the Purple Aces and the most for the program since Eryn Gould had a 12-game streak in 2019.
She wrapped up the season batting .353 over her last 15 games, including five multi-hit efforts. Wood tied for second in the MVC with three sacrifice flies and was 5th with 169 at-bats. Last season, Wood led Evansville with eight home runs and 31 RBI while batting .272.
Frossard, the 2022 MVC Newcomer of the Year, was a defensive star in 2023. Multiple diving catches in the field saved numerous opposing runs from scoring. She made the start in all 53 games this season and completed the regular season tied for second in the Valley with 28 walks.
In the final series of the regular season at Northern Iowa, Frossard batted .600, including a perfect 2-for-2 effort in the finale. She had the game-winning single in the April 1 victory over Belmont and launched her first home run in February against Eastern Kentucky.
VINCENNES, Ind. – The NJCAA Track and Field Coaches Association announced the members of their 2023 Hall of Fame class, which includes former VU Assistant Coach Tim Marsee and three-time NJCAA National Champion pole vaulter Matteo Capello (Turino, Italy).
“Being inducted into the NJCAA Track and Field Hall of Fame is one of the highest honors you can get as a coach,†Marsee said. “To be voted in by your peers and people that recognize your accomplishments were worthy enough to be in the Hall of Fame is pretty cool.â€
“When I found out that I had been nominated to go in, I was kind of taken back by it because I didn’t know if I had enough qualifications for this honor,†Marsee added.
Marsee was named NJCAA National Meet Assistant Men’s Coach of the Year three times, the men’s Atlantic Division Assistant Coach of the Year three times and the National Meet Assistant Women’s Coach of the Year twice, working under former VU Head Coach Chris Gafner.
In 2018, Marsee was also named the men’s and women’s Atlantic Division Coach of the Year and the Region 24 Men’s Head Coach of the Year.
Marsee worked with several high-level athletes while at Vincennes University. His athletes earned 87 All-American honors, 71 All-Time top-five VU School records, including 21 VU school record holders, five National Meet record holders and four NJCAA National records.
Marsee’s athletes also finished as National Runner-Up 12 times and earned 21 individual National Championships at Vincennes University, including working with two NJCAA Hall of Fame Athletes in Natalia Bartnovskaya, who was inducted in 2019 and Matteo Capello, who will be inducted alongside Marsee.
“Working with Natalia and Matteo was great,†Marsee said. “I helped those two achieve some goals of theirs and they went on to be National Champions and National Meet record holders. But one thing that I am most proud of is I have had about six or seven athletes from Indiana and Illinois that have gone on to win National Championships and several more that have been All-Americans, my son included, that were anywhere from exceptional to average athletes in high school.â€
“Being able to help develop those kids to be able to achieve those high-level goals of being Champions, that’s probably one of the things I am most proud of,†Marsee added. “Being able to work with those kids and helping them achieve goals that they maybe didn’t know were possible has been really special.â€
“Going into the Hall of Fame with Matteo is nice,†Marsee said. “Matteo was such a great athlete. When he got here, his big goal was to try to get over 18 feet as a pole vaulter and he was able to accomplish that. Along the way he set some National records and won three National Championships. He would have won four, but the 2020 Outdoor meet was cancelled due to COVID.â€
“My first National Champion I worked with was Natalia,†Marsee added. “She was a lot of fun to work with. She won her event at the National meet on a Friday and Ryan Smith won his event the next day and those were my first two athletes to win National titles. The work ethic with those kids was tremendous and Matteo, he just worked and worked. We constantly communicated on what he needed to fix and kept trying to reach those goals and it finally ended up paying off in the end. It’s pretty cool to go into the Hall of Fame at the same time as an athlete that you coached.â€
“I still follow some of the athletes that I coached that are still competing,†Marsee said. “I also still follow VU and look at the results every weekend. I get to talk to Coach Marty Rogier every now and then and he’s working on building the program up. I think he and Coach Tyler are doing a great job.â€
“As a coach, you never want to see the program go down,†Marsee added. “You want to see the program continue to build and go forward and I believe that’s happening at VU. You always want the program to succeed and they are.â€
Marsee got his start in coaching Track and Field at nearby South Knox high school, where he helped guide the Spartans to back-to-back Sectional Championships.
“Several years ago, my daughter was a middle school track athlete at South Knox,†Marsee said. “I went by one day to pick her up from practice and she was out there trying to high jump. Nobody was over there trying to work with her, so I went over and started working with her on the high jump. Then some other kids came up and started asking me questions, so I started trying to help them. The next year they asked me if I wanted to coach middle school track.â€
“So, I did and we had some success, then the high school coach Bob Swank retired and I became the high school coach,†Marsee added. “We had some success on the high school team and won back-to-back Sectionals, won some Conference titles and had some really good athletes and then Chris Gafner approached me about coming to help at VU. I came to VU, first on a part-time basis and then became a full-time assistant, while still maintaining my regular job at South Knox.â€
“Chris and I developed a great relationship and without him, none of this would be possible,†Marsee said. “I started to learn some things about Track and Field that I needed to get better on and things just kind of took off from there. But Chris and I worked really well together and he gets a lot of the credit for this honor.â€
Marsee joins Trailblazer Track and Field Hall of Famers Jeff Phillips, who was inducted in 1991 and finished third in the 200 meters at the 1982 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships and former VU Head Track and Field Coach Bill Smith who was inducted in 2021, along with the previously mentioned Bartnovskaya and Capello.
“I think the Track program at Vincennes University is finally starting to receive some of the recognition that it has deserved over several years,†Marsee said. “There have been a lot of very good coaches here. Chris Gafner did a tremendous job here. Those guys like Chris Gafner, Bill Smith, Art Cortez and Ben Johnson, who started the program back in the 1960’s. Those guys really developed the program and tried to take it to the highest level they could.â€
“Each coach tried to reach higher and higher and even though we haven’t won a team National Championship in Track, which is extremely hard to do, those guys kept building the program better and better and tried to make it more competitive,†Marsee added. “Chris and I started the women’s track program. There have been some women’s athletes who have competed in track and field at VU, but there was never an official women’s team. So, he and I started the women’s program and it has really taken off and we’ve had some tremendous women’s athletes here over the years.â€
When asked what it will be like to see his name up on the Hall of Fame banner that hangs in the P.E. Complex, Marsee said, “I don’t know. I think it’s going to be pretty emotional. It’s a great honor to be on that banner, so I think it’s going to be pretty emotional. It is now just thinking about it.â€
Marsee will be inducted into the NJCAA Track and Field Hall of Fame at the 2023 NJCAA Division I Outdoor National Championship meet in Hobbs, N.M. Marsee is a member of the Class of 2023 alongside former VU pole vaulter and three-time NJCAA National Champion Matteo Capello, as well as Coach Tony Dougherty from New Mexico Junior College and Coach Jane Vatchev from the College of DuPage in Illinois.
The Vincennes University Athletic department would like to congratulate Coach Tim Marsee on this tremendous and well-deserved honor.
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — University of Southern Indiana Baseball takes a break from Ohio Valley Conference action this weekend when it makes a visit to 16th-ranked Oral Roberts University for a three-game series in Tulsa, Oklahoma. First pitch of the series at J.L. Johnson Stadium is Friday at 6 p.m. before continuing Saturday at 2 p.m. and concluding Sunday at 1 p.m.  Links to follow all of the action during the homestand can be found on the Eagles’ baseball schedule at USIScreamingEagles.com.
USI Baseball Notes: USI has rough week to start May: The USI Screaming Eagles (15-32) started May with an 0-4 record, falling 14-3 to Southern Illinois University; 12-2 to Miami (OH) University; and a pair, 4-3 and 14-10 to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Senior centerfielder Evan Kahre led the USI hitters with a .412 average, four runs scored, and two RBIs, while senior catcher/second baseman Lucas McNew had a team-best five RBIs.  USI’s offense surges: USI has the offense going, averaging 8.1 runs per game in the last 10 games and reaching double-digits in seven of the last 11 games. Junior first baseman Tucker Ebest has a .429 average over the last 10 games with four home runs and 18 RBIs. Senior infielder/catcher Lucas McNew follows with 17 RBIs in the last 10.  Eagles in the OVC standings: The Eagles are ninth in the OVC standings by percentage points with a 6-14 record and a .300 winning percentage. USI, which is .033 away from an OVC Tournament spot, has three conference games left and must finish amongst the top eight to earn a trip to the OVC Tournament May 24-26.  Leading hitters: Junior first baseman Tucker Ebest leads the Eagles with a .329 average, 11 home runs, and 49 RBIs. Ebest is followed by junior catcher Parker Stroh, who has a .328 batting average, while senior catcher/second baseman Lucas McNew is second to Ebest with 43 RBIs and has a team-high 11 doubles.    Versus the OVC: Junior first baseman Tucker Ebest has a team-best .397 batting average and five RBIs in OVC play. Senior catcher/second baseman Lucas McNew leads the squad in OVC action with 21 RBIs.  Among the OVC leaders: Junior first baseman Tucker Ebest is tied for first in the OVC in RBIs (49), while sophomore shortstop Ricardo Van Grieken is the OVC leader in on-base percentage (.500). Senior centerfielder Evan Kahre is fourth in triples (3), sixth in runs scored (36), and seventh in hits (47) and stolen bases (12).  Van Grieken gets hit for record. Sophomore shortstop Ricardo Van Grieken has been hit by a pitch in a season more than any other Eagle, getting hit 23 times this season. The mark of 20 was previously held by Wes Fink (2008) and Nick Gobert (2018).   McNew climbing the USI All-Time charts: Senior catcher/infielder Lucas McNew is fifth all-time at USI in home runs (24); fifth in RBIs (169) and sixth in doubles (51).  Oral Roberts this spring: The #16 Golden Eagles of Oral Roberts enter the three-game series with a 37-11 overall record after a 4-1 road win at Wichita State University Tuesday. Oral Roberts also has won their last nine games and 17 of the last 18 contests. USI and Oral Roberts will be meeting for the first time in baseball.   OVC Ranked Wins: OVC teams have had a trio of wins over nationally ranked teams this season and have 26 victories over ranked teams since 2018. This season’s OVC wins over ranked opponents are: Â
Feb. 26 – Eastern Illinois 12, #3 Arkansas
Apr. 12 – Little Rock 11, #5 Arkansas 4
Apr. 18 – Tennessee Tech 12, #19 Tennessee 5
CARBONDALE, Ill. – Six combined runs in their final two innings lifted Drake to a 7-0 win over the University of Evansville softball team in Wednesday’s opening game of the Missouri Valley Conference Championship at Charlotte West Stadium.
Evansville’s defense kept things close in the early innings. After the Bulldogs scored a run in the first, things would remain at 1-0- until the bottom of the 5th when Drake scored twice before a grand slam pushed the lead to 7-0 in the 6th. UE was limited to three hits on the day with Jenna Nink earning a pair and Lacy Smith picking up the other.
With two outs in the bottom of the first, Drake saw four consecutive batters reach base, resulting in the first run of the game.  A single, error and walk loaded the bags for Skylar Rigby.  Rigby singled to plate the first run of the game.
Hanhah Hood made a diving defensive play at third base to save a hit in the second and the Purple Aces were able to get their first baserunner in the third.  After the first eight UE batters were retired in order, Lacy Smith singled to right to reach base.
It was the defense who starred in the fourth as Jess Willsey and Marah Wood each made important stops to send the game into the 5th. Jenna Nink opened the 5th with a single and Taylor Howe would reach on a walk before Bulldog pitcher Mackenzie Hupke got out of the jam.
Drake added two insurance runs in the bottom of the 5th as Carey Koenig picked up a 2-run single to extend their advantage to three runs. They put the finishing touches on the contest in the 6th when Emily Valtman launched a grand slam to give her squad a 7-0 lead.
Tossing five innings, Sydney Weatherford suffered the loss. Just one of the three runs she allowed was earned. Megan Brenton threw the final frame. Hupke threw the complete game for the Bulldogs and allowed three hits. She struck out nine batters.
UE wraps up the 2023 season with a 22-32 record. The Aces enjoyed a strong home season that saw them win 15 out of 23 games inside Tri-State Orthopaedics Field at James and Dorothy Cooper Stadium.
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.
A press release issued on May 1 by the Indiana Democratic Party highlighted the successes of the 2023 legislative session. Of the more than 200 bills that made their way to the governor’s desk, 20 came from Democratic legislators—not bad considering Republicans have Democrats outnumbered 40 to 10 in the Senate and 70 to 30 in the House.
However, some on the left are calling this year a session of missed opportunities.
Rep. Greg Porter, D-Indianapolis, spoke in opposition to the state budget, House Bill 1001, in the House Chamber around 1 a.m. April 28, calling it disappointing. Photo by Xain Ballenger, TheStatehouseFile.com
Rep. Gregory Porter, D-Indianapolis, said the session was “absolutely not†successful. The positives of passing bills like HB 1422, which creates a dementia care specialist program, and 1449, which automatically enrolls eligible students in the 21st Century Scholars program, are just pieces of sand in a 20-by-40 sandbox, he said. A successful session would be “when we really do things for people.â€
“It’s not a success because there wasn’t a lot of investment into the human infrastructure,†Porter said.
Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, said it was a session of “missed opportunities,†particularly when it comes to the state’s budget. There was an opportunity this session to fund mental health at a level that would meet the needs of the state, he said, but Republicans decided to do a “half measure on that.â€
“I think that just reflects the fact that the Republicans are now in their second gerrymandered map. They didn’t get touched for a decade. They’re confident they won’t get touched for another decade,†Pierce said.
Michael Wolf, department chair and professor of political science at Purdue University, said Democratic priorities can only get through with Republican cooperation.
“Democrats have had little ability to pass legislation because Republicans hold a supermajority in the legislature and can pass bills without Democrats,†he said. “Moreover, Republicans can develop more partisan agendas even knowing their legislation does not have to reach across the aisle.â€
Sen. Shelli Yoder, D-Bloomington, agreed that it felt like more Democratic pieces of legislation were passed this session, but one failed item Yoder still wanted to focus on was a repeal of the menstrual product tax.
“We aren’t asking for free products. We’re asking, don’t make us be taxed to engage the world, to leave our house. That is what that tax is. And we should be repealing it,†Yoder said. “It’s been 65 years that we have taxed women on going to school and going to work. Enough is enough.â€
She also criticized lawmakers ending the session when they did. Indiana has two different kinds of sessions, long and short, alternating each year. The long session is when legislators write the state’s budget, which covers two years. In budget years, legislators have until April 29 to adjourn. This year the session ended a little past 2 a.m. on April 27, two days before the final adjourn deadlined.
Yoder said the session ended “unnecessarily†and that her colleagues had two more days to work on legislation relating to the state’s budget. Legislators could have left “at a decent hour,†then come back on Friday to do the “Hoosiers’ work.”
“At that point, robust debate, asking questions, making certain that all the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed—it’s all overcome by exhaustion. And at the end of the day, it’s Hoosiers who pay the price for that hasty, unnecessarily so, rush to sine die,†Yoder said.
Indiana isn’t the only statehouse to have a Democratic minority. Other states include Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
“Despite facing super minority status in both chambers, Statehouse Democrats worked across the aisle this session and delivered pragmatic solutions for Hoosier families,†said Indiana Democratic Party Chairman Mike Schmuhl in a press release. “From fighting food insecurity to supporting first responders, and addressing violent crime, Democrats helped lead on issues that will make a big difference for Indiana’s future.â€
Here are the House Democratic bills that made it all the way through the General Assembly:Â
House Bill 1087 from Rep. Justin Moed, D-Indianapolis: Allows for released offenders to have transportation and housing set up for them prior to their release.
House Bill 1138 from Rep. Carolyn Jackson, D-Hammond: Ensures clean drinking water for preschools and daycares.
House Bill 1157 from Rep. Justin Moed, D-Indianapolis: Establishes a housing development program.
House Bill 1219 from Rep. Maureen Bauer, D-South Bend: Establishes a pilot program to monitor levels of certain toxic, manmade substances in the blood of Hoosier firefighters.
House Bill 1228 from Rep. Maureen Bauer, D-South Bend: Strengthens definitions and penalties around child solicitation.
House Bill 1252 from Rep. Ryan Hatfield, D-Evansville: Provides legal protections to certain government employees.
House Bill 1256 from Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington: Creates rules concerning public records.
House Bill 1321 from Rep. Victoria Garcia Wilburn, D-Fishers: Increases the mental health education that first responders receive during their required training.
House Bill 1365 from Rep. Mitch Gore, D-Indianapolis: Changes the definition of a machine gun to include devices that can be attached to pistols to make them fully automatic.
House Bill 1396 from Rep. Mike Andrade, D-Munster: Makes “stop the bleed†bleeding control kits more publicly available.
House Bill 1422 from Rep. Gregory Porter, D-Indianapolis: Creates a dementia care specialist program.
House Bill 1449 from Rep. Earl Harris Jr., D-East Chicago: Automatically enrolls eligible students in the 21st Century Scholars program.
House Bill 1483 from Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary: Strengthens school responses to bullying.
House Bill 1627 from Rep. Maureen Bauer, D-South Bend: Makes it easier for nonprofits to buy tax sale properties.
Here are the Senate Democratic bills that made it all the way through the General Assembly:Â
Senate Bill 15 from Sen. Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago: Increases the per diem paid to a commissioner of a housing authority.
Senate Bill 252 from Sen. Shelli Yoder, D-Bloomington: Allows a healthcare provider to implant a long-acting reversible contraceptive on a Medicaid recipient’s first visit.
Senate Bill 334 from Sen. Shelli Yoder, D-Bloomington: Simplifies the application for SNAP benefits.
Senate Bill 415 from Sen. Rodney Pol, D-Chesterton: Requires parental notification for children arrested on school property or at school events.
Senate Bill 434 from Sen. Eddie Melton, D-Gary: Relates to economic development in Lake County, establishing a blighted property demolition fund.
Senate Bill 438 from Sen. Fady Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis: Requires a comprehensive review of existing home health services for children with complex medical needs.
FOOTNOTE: Xain Ballenger is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.
