EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Evansville fifth-year outfielder Eric Roberts (Hamilton, Ohio/Hamilton) was named the Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Player of the Week on Monday, after belting four home runs in four UE victories last week.
Roberts slugged 1.111 on the week, while launching four home runs, scoring seven runs, and driving in 10 more to help UE to a 4-0 week at SIUE and Missouri State.  Roberts homered in three of UE’s four contests, including going 2-for-3 with two home runs and five RBI in the Purple Aces’ 7-4 series finale victory at Missouri State.  In the three-game Valley set against the Bears, Roberts hit .462 (6-for-13) with a double, three home runs, five runs scored and nine RBI to help UE sweep the defending MVC Tournament champions.
Roberts also hit a lead-off home run at SIUE last Wednesday to give UE a lead it would never lose in an 11-7 victory over the Cougars.  Roberts also went 2-for-2 in the stolen base department, and currently leads the MVC in home runs (nine), RBI (32) and stolen bases (10).
Evansville will return home to German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium this week for four games.  UE will bring a 16-7 overall record into Wednesday night’s 6 p.m. home contest against Southeast Missouri State.  The Purple Aces have won nine games in a row and 16 out of 18 overall.  The current nine-game winning streak is tied for the fourth-longest active winning streak in the country, and UE will be shooting for 10-straight wins on Wednesday night.  UE has not won 10-straight games since the 2006 team won the final 10 regular-season games to win the 2006 MVC regular-season title.
Wednesday’s game can be heard live in the Tri-State area and online through 107.1 FM-WJPS and the Old National Bank/Purple Aces Sports Network.
EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORTÂ FOOTNOTE: Â EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT Â information was provided by the EPD and posted by the City-County-County Observer without opinion, bias, or editing.
A Firefighter Privacy Protection Bill Heads To The Senate Thanks To A Evansville Firefighter
By Xain Ballenger, TheStatehouseFile.com
On June 12, 2021, Jonathan Wright, a private in the Evansville Fire Department, was attacked while on a medic run.
Wright said the individual that the fire department was responding to had overdosed on heroin and was given two doses of Narcan prior to their arrival. The computer on the rescue vehicle was down at the time, so they weren’t provided that information.
“On an unassuming day and what we believe to be an unassuming call, my family’s life was flipped upside down,†Wright said in the Senate Local Government Committee Thursday. The committee discussed House Bill 1578, which “protects the privacy of Hoosier firefighters,†said the author of the bill, Rep. Timothy O’Brien, R-Evansville.
The individual Wright and his crew were responding to stabbed Wright in the face with a large kitchen knife.
Pictured: Jonathan Wright, a private in the Evansville Fire Department, testifies in favor of HB 1578 before the Senate Local Government Committee. Wright gave an emotional testimony, sharing his story of being attacked on the job. The bill passed 10-0. Photo by Xain Ballenger, TheStatehouseFile.com
He also attempted to stab Wright in the chest but failed after being subdued by Wright and a member of his crew. Wright said the individual tried again to stab another firefighter while refusing to give up the knife.
Wright said he became a firefighter to serve his community and to “prevent the loss of life within it.†He chose this career over law enforcement because of his time “behind the trigger†while serving in the military.
He said he wanted to leave the “violence of humanity†behind him but he was thrust back into the “sad realityâ€â€”and that firefighters are not immune to situations that cause immense stress and trauma.
“My wounds have all been healed from that day, and even though I’m reminded every time I look in the mirror, I myself have moved on from it. However, I will not forget the sheer panic and worry that I could see in both my daughters as well as my wife’s eyes,†Wright said.
O’Brien said the bill would add firefighters, both paid and volunteer, to the list of people who can conceal their personal information on public data websites.
Wright was fearful of a follow-up attack and tried to have his address withheld from public record, but his request was denied due to current statute.
Wright said in his testimony that firemen can be away from their homes for at least 24 hours, and under current law, his residence and other properties could easily be found on a county assessor’s website as public records.
“I’d like to believe that these new rules, were they put in place, would help to protect and give peace of mind to future victims and their families,†Wright said.
The bill passed the Senate Local Government Committee unanimously, with Sen. Mike Bohacek, R-Michiana Shores, and Sen. Rodney Pol, D-Portage, asking to be added as sponsors of the bill.
It heads to the full Senate next.
FOOTNOTE: Xain Ballenger is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.
Former President Donald Trump’s reaction to the possibility that he might be indicted in New York illustrates perfectly why he keeps getting into trouble.
He doesn’t understand the nature of the problem that confronts him.
In this case, Trump responded to news that he likely would be charged with election fraud for paying porn star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about a dalliance she says the two had.
The case is a tricky one.
The affair with Daniels—whose real name is Stephanie Clifford—isn’t illegal, if it in fact occurred. Nor would any payment to her to stay silent about their involvement be a violation of the law.
No, Trump’s legal exposure stems from the fact that he apparently didn’t declare the payoff, which was made by his longtime and now estranged lawyer/fixer Michael Cohen, as a campaign contribution in 2016.
If the former president had done that—and if he hadn’t continued trying to cover it up—there would be no case whatsoever.
But Donald Trump never thinks more than one move ahead.
He didn’t do so in 2016 and he isn’t doing so now.
That’s why he, not the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, announced that he was about to be arrested, the first former president in U.S. history to have that experience. And he called on his followers to rise in protest when the indictment comes down.
That is the standard Trump playbook when he does something dumb or something doesn’t go his way.
His response is to try to make every challenge he faces, regardless of whether that challenge is legal or economic, into a political one. He summons his base to attack those who dare to criticize or even just scrutinize him.
In short, when does something dumb, he reacts by doing something even dumber.
Inevitably, in so doing, he compounds rather than alleviates his troubles.
That’s what Trump did when he refused to acknowledge the results of the 2020 presidential election and, in quick succession, attempted to alter the vote totals in Georgia and urged on a mob that ended up storming and ransacking the U.S. Capitol.
As a result of those ill-advised actions, Trump is being investigated by both Georgia legal authorities and the U.S. Justice Department and likely will face charges that are much more serious than the ones confronting him in New York. And the cases there appear much stronger.
In other words, Trump’s response to unwelcome news was to search for a way to make it even worse.
Which is what he accomplished.
What makes this pattern of his so foolish is its sheer self-destructiveness.
No competent prosecutor with whom I’ve talked says the case Manhattan D.A. Bragg has against Trump is a slam dunk. The lead witness against the former president—Trump’s onetime fixer Cohen—has an oft-declared and pronounced animus against his former patron, a bias that a competent defense attorney can use to impeach Cohen’s testimony.
The chances that Trump will walk, even if he is charged and tried, are pretty good.
And if he were found not guilty, he could use that verdict to publicly discredit every other investigation into his conduct.
But that is not Trump’s way.
Wherever he sees a small, sputtering fire, his instinct always is to try to put the meager flames out by dousing them with gasoline.
Then he acts shocked when a conflagration occurs.
By responding in the way he has to the Manhattan district attorney’s investigation into the Stormy Daniels matter, Trump may expose himself to still more charges. Interfering with or attempting to impede a criminal investigation can itself be a criminal act.
Once again, the former president has found a way to make a bad situation worse.
Donald Trump has made clear that he always sees himself as a beleaguered figure, a man constantly surrounded by enemies. Everyone, he thinks, is out to get him.
That’s not the case, but it is true that there is one powerful figure who seems to work tirelessly to make Donald Trump’s life miserable.
It’s the guy he sees staring back at him when he looks in the mirror.
FOOTNOTE:  John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students. The views expressed are those of the author only and should not be attributed to Franklin College.
The City-County Observer posted this article without bias or editing.
Physicians, transgender Hoosiers and parents all testified Tuesday before the House Public Health Committee, which heard over four full hours of discussion before its approval ofSenate Bill 480, which would ban gender-affirming health care for Hoosiers under 18. Protestors yelled chants outside the Chamber like “kill the bill†and “hate is not a Hoosier value.â€
The bill has garnered multiple protests from both sides of the aisle as it has made its way through the Senate and now the House.
Fourteen-year-old Silver Farrell stood up before the House Chamber Tuesday, having to lower the microphone to deliver his testimony. He said he has experienced extreme bullying at his school due to his gender identity.
“During my struggles, my mental health has not been great. I’ve battled with anxiety and depression leading to insomnia. The reason behind this is all the hate at school towards my gender. I won’t go too deep into that, but all the slurs, death threats and name calling have caused my mental health to suffer,†Farrell said.
“I’m trying to say I never thought the government—grown adults— would turn into my middle-school bullies.â€
Farrell said that since beginning hormonal therapy, his mental health has improved and he has become much happier. He urged legislators not to push forward with SB 480.
Meanwhile, George F. Kane, a family medicine physician, said his oath to protect his patients and do no harm contradicts participating in gender-affirming care. He said Indiana should follow the lead of other countries that have walked away from offering hormonal therapy or procedures for minors.
SB 480 has garnered multiple protests from both sides of the aisle as it has made its way through the Senate and now the House. On Tuesday, the House Public Health Committee heard more than four hours of testimony.  Photo by Xain Ballenger, TheStatehouseFile.com.
“Gender-affirming therapies are so poor that those medical organizations which first pioneered puberty blocking therapy and surgeries, including those in the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden and the UK, all in the last 18 months have radically walked back the recommendations for considering this treatment strategy,†Kane said.
Sweden halted gender-affirming care for minors in February 2022 after being the first country to legalize gender reassignment. According to health officials, the rollback was due to the unknown effects that hormonal treatments could cause years from now.
Kane said SB 480 is a good law, one that protects Indiana’s children.
Rather than being good, Larisha Hanks, the parent of a transgender son, said the bill would be life threatening.
“According to this bill, I only have a few months left to enjoy having my son back,†Hanks said. “A few months of smiles and laughter before the consequences of this bill will suck the life out of him.â€
With over 50 people on the schedule to speak before the committee, each person testifying was kept to a limit of three minutes, which eventually decreased to two minutes.
Scott Newgent, a transgender man and parent to three children, shared how harmful transitioning was for him.
“I underwent more than $1 million worth of surgeries and hormone therapies to change from Kelly to Scott,†Newgent said. “And I almost died in the process. The reason why I know this is experimental is that I had to figure out my own problem. I currently get infections and will for the rest of my life. And a lot of transgender people do.â€
Newgent said he doesn’t blame other parents for testifying against the bill because he used to think just like them.
“I understand. I was part of it. And I get that,†Newgent said. “But at some point, we’ve got to tell the truth, and the truth is that when you’re told you’re born in the wrong body and you don’t fit in, we’re targeting all the kids that don’t belong.â€
Pastor Chris Duckworth of New Joy Lutheran Church in Westfield testified against the bill on behalf of a larger group of faith leaders, saying that the bill was hurting and targeting children rather than the health care itself.
“SB 480 does not meet that standard of love. SB 480 will harm young trans people in our communities,†Duckworth said. “We know that this bill will threaten their physical safety and their mental health by denying them access to evidence-based health care.â€
SB 480 follows a string of bills in the Indiana legislature on transgender rights, such as House Bill 1407, a bill on “parental rights,†and House Bill 1608, which would ban discussions on “human sexuality†in the classroom for children in kindergarten through third grade.
After four hours of conversation and multiple compliments from the committee chair, Rep. Brad Barrett, R-Richmond, on how considerate those testifying were, the bill ultimately passed 8-5.
Rep. Ann Vermillion, R-Marion, went across party lines as the only Republican to vote against the bill. She said she just didn’t think the bill was where it needed to be to pass.
“I don’t think we’re getting the full picture from the standard care of how does a Hoosier with this diagnosis work through the system,†Vermillion said.
The bill will now go to the House floor for second reading.
FOOTNOTE: Ashlyn Myers is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.
The Southwest Indiana Builders Association “BUILD PAC” Announces Their Endorsement Of Cheryl  Musgrave For Mayor Of Evansville!
Written by SIBA Staff
SIBA “BUILD PAC” represents the interests of the Southwestern Indiana Builders Association, a group that brings together members of the home building industry. SIBA supports leaders who will work effectively for safe and affordable housing. And they think that Cheryl is the right choice because:
She is pro-development, displays great teamwork in her relations with SIBA, and has an impressive list of achievements
She supports fair and appropriate licensing and testing for the building industry
She has worked to remove unnecessary and costly obstacles to development and will continue to benefit future homeowners and builders alike.
Cheryl welcomed the endorsement. “SIBA is a big part of our future path forward to improve housing in Evansville and make us an attractive city for economic development and a safe and secure place to raise families,” she said.
FOOTNOTE: Â Posted by the City-County Observer without bias or editing.
