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CenterPoint Energy continues multi-year plan to upgrade natural gas pipelines throughout Indiana

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Safety, reliability and a cleaner energy future remain top priorities

Evansville – March 30, 2023 – CenterPoint Energy announced today that contract crews working for the company continue replacing natural gas mains and service lines throughout its Indiana service territory as part of a multi-year program to replace approximately 1,200 miles of bare steel and cast-iron pipeline infrastructure in nearly 75 cities and towns. In 2023, 32 communities in Indiana will benefit with CenterPoint Energy investing more than $76 million and crews retiring approximately 115 miles of pipeline.

The bare steel and cast-iron infrastructure will be replaced with new industry-grade plastic. The new distribution mains, which directly supply homes and businesses, comply with all industry and federal requirements and are expected to further enhance the safety of CenterPoint Energy’s natural gas systems. Additionally, transmission pipelines will be inspected and dependent on inspection results, may be upgraded.

“Our ongoing investments in our natural gas infrastructure remain a top priority for our company as we strive to provide our customers and communities with safe and reliable service,” said Ashley Babcock, Vice President, Indiana and Ohio Gas. “These improvements will also help reduce operational emissions as we continue our journey toward a cleaner energy future.”

As crews perform the work, natural gas mains under streets and sidewalks are replaced first, followed by service lines running directly to homes and businesses. Upon completion of the work, affected sidewalks, yards and streets will be restored as weather conditions permit. For an interactive map of projects, visit www.centerpointenergy.com/pipelinereplacement.

“We understand the construction associated with this work may temporarily inconvenience those in affected areas. While an exact timeline for each project will vary, depending on size, weather, ground and soil conditions, crews will work as safely and quickly as possible to minimize impact to customers and the community,” added Babcock.

A representative of CenterPoint Energy will contact affected customers to provide an overview of the required work. CenterPoint Energy reminds residents to exercise caution when driving through the construction zones.  Residents and their children are urged to keep a safe distance away from any work sites. Additionally, if you smell the “rotten egg” odor of natural gas, immediately leave on foot, go to a safe location and call both 911 and CenterPoint Energy at 800-227-1376. Don’t use electric switches/outlets, phones (including cell phones), drive or start a car inside or near the location or do anything that could cause a spark.

In January, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) approved the recovery of the cost of these improvement projects through the Compliance and System Improvement Adjustment (CSIA). The CSIA is updated twice per year. Customers began seeing the charge reflected on bills in January for the recovery of 80% of the investment made from January through June of last year.

Eagles continue OVC action at Lindenwood

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EVANSVILLE, Ind. — University of Southern Indiana Baseball resumes Ohio Valley Conference action this week when it hits the road to play at Lindenwood University for a three-game series in St. Charles, Missouri. The series starts Friday at 1 p.m. before continuing Saturday at 1 p.m. and concluding Sunday at 1p.m.
 
The Screaming Eagles (7-18) are coming off a tough three game series with Morehead State University and a heartbreaking loss to Ball State University Tuesday in Muncie, Indiana. Links to follow USI at Lindenwood this weekend can be found on the Eagles’ baseball schedule at USIScreamingEagles.com.
 
Weekend Schedule Note: With the forecast of heavy rains around the St. Louis area this weekend, fans can track any schedule changes on Twitter (@USIAthletics), Facebook (USI Athletics), and USIScreamingEagles.com.
 

USI Baseball Notes:

Eagles loses heartbreaker to Ball State: The USI Screaming Eagles lost a heartbreaker to start the week, falling in 11 innings to Ball State University. USI had the lead four times, only to see Ball State rally to tie or take the lead before winning on a walk-off home run in the 11th.
 
Good relief against Ball State: On a staff day on the mound, the Eagles received strong relief pitching performances from junior right-hander Trent Robinson (Louisville, Kentucky), who allowed a single run in three innings of work; junior right-hander Corey Anderson (Linton, Indiana), who posted two-plus scoreless innings; and junior right-hander Matthew Moore (Newburgh, Indiana), who struck out four and allowed an unearned run in three innings of action.
 
Eagles go 0-4 last week: The Eagles were 0-4 last week, 0-3 to start OVC play. USI had a chance to win three of the four games late, allowing three in the bottom of the eighth in the 6-3 loss to Belmont University; left the tying and winning runs on second and third in the 3-2 loss to Morehead State University to open the three-game series; and the winning run on third in the extra-inning 5-1 loss to Morehead in the series finale.
 
Leading at the plate last week. Junior outfielder Ren Tachioka (Japan) led USI last week at the plate, hitting .400 (6-15) with a run scored, a triple, and two RBIs. Junior pinch hitter Gavin McLarty (Buckner, Kentucky) came off the bench to drive in a team-high three RBIs in the four games.
 
Morris was strong last week on the mound: USI sophomore right-hander Gavin Morris (Brazil, Indiana) made a pair of strong starts last week, getting a no-decision in both games. Morris blanked Belmont over three-inning in a staff-day start, allowing a hit and a walk and striking out two. He followed with a strong start versus Morehead, giving up one run on two hits and three walks, while reaching a career-best six innings and six strikeouts.
 
Hutson reaches career-bests vs. Morehead State: USI sophomore right-hander Tyler Hutson (Villa Hills, Kentucky) threw a career-best seven innings and struck out a career-high seven batters in the series opener with Morehead State to start OVC play.
 
Leading hitters: Sophomore outfielder Drew Taylor (Jeffersonville, Indiana) leads USI this season with a .357 batting average (15-42). Sophomore shortstop Ricardo Van Grieken (Venezuela) (16-46) follows with a .348 batting average, while junior first baseman Tucker Ebest (Austin, Texas) has a team-best 22 RBIs and four home runs.  
 
Taylor has the hottest bat: Sophomore outfielder Drew Taylor has the hottest bat for the Eagles over the last 10 games. Taylor is hitting .417 over the last 10 games (10-24) with two doubles and four RBIs.
 
McNew climbing the USI All-Time charts: Senior catcher Lucas McNew (Floyds Knobs, Indiana) is sixth all-time at USI in home runs (21); tied for ninth in RBIs (141) and tied for 10th in doubles (44).
 
USI in longest losing streak since 2006. USI has lost nine-straight games, the longest streak since the Eagles lost 10-in-a-row during the 2006 season.
 
Lindenwood in 2023: Lindenwood is 3-22 overall and also began its OVC schedule with three-straight losses at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. The Lion started their week with a 7-5 loss to the University of Missouri Wednesday and have lost eight-straight games.
 
USI vs. Lindenwood: USI trails the all-time series with Lindenwood, 4-1, with all of the meeting in Great Lakes Valley Conference regular season and tournament action. In the only series meeting between the two schools, the Lions captured three of the four games at the Lou Brock Complex in 2021.
 

Schneider wins first-ever weekly honor

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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – For the first time in her collegiate career, University of Southern Indiana Women’s Golf sophomore Baileigh Schneider (Huntingburg, Indiana) was voted as the Ohio Valley Conference Female Golfer of the Week as announced by the league’s communications office Thursday morning. This is the first weekly award for the Screaming Eagles this season.
 
Schneider put up a career-best performance at The Julie last Monday and Tuesday after putting up a two-round score of 148 (+6) to tie for ninth in her best finish as an Eagle. Her opening-round score of 72 (+1) was the best single round in her collegiate career and the lowest-scored round for USI in 2023.
 
USI finished the tournament in sixth place, the team’s best finish this season.
 
Schneider and the Eagles finish the regular season with a trip to Murray, Kentucky to compete in the Jim Weaver Invitational hosted by Murray State University at the Miller Memorial Golf Course on April 3-4.

Weather Changes UE-Belmont Baseball Series Schedule Again

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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Due to the forecast for heavy rain and storms on Friday evening and heavy wind set for Saturday, the schedule for this weekend’s University of Evansville-Belmont baseball series has been changed again.

The series will now begin on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. with a single game.  The series will conclude now with a doubleheader scheduled for 12 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.

Evansville will enter the series with a 16-8 overall record and 3-0 Missouri Valley Conference mark after seeing its nine-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday night against Southeast Missouri State.  Belmont opened its first season of MVC play last weekend by winning two out of three games against Illinois State at home, and the Bruins will bring a 14-12 overall record and 2-1 conference mark into this weekend’s series.  This weekend’s series is slated to be streamed live on ESPN+ and ESPN3, with the entire series also available in the Tri-State area and on-line through 107.1 FM-WJPS and the Old National Bank/Purple Aces Sports Network.

Early errors doom Blazers in road matchup at Frontier

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FAIRFIELD, Ill. – The Vincennes University Trailblazer baseball team looked to pick up their second road win over an NJCAA Division I opponent in as many days and held their own with the Bobcats of Frontier CC.

Vincennes had some issues in the field in the first inning, which allowed Frontier to score three runs in the first, which would be the difference as VU fell by the final score of 4-2.

The Trailblazers got on the board quickly Thursday night, with sophomore leadoff hitter Ethan Burdette (Linton, Ind.) leading off the game with a single.

Burdette would come around to score on a throwing error, giving Vincennes the early 1-0 lead.

Freshman starting pitcher Aaron Fenn (Fort Wayne, Ind.) got off to a great start, retiring the first two batters he faced, including a strikeout before getting the third batter to hit a ground ball.

This ground ball did not result in the third out of the inning however, as a throwing error extended the inning and the Bobcats jumped on this opportunity to score three runs in the inning and take a 3-1 lead.

The Trailblazers looked to battle back in the second and freshman Jack Robinson (Mooresville, Ind.) led off the inning with a single, stole second base and later reached third and scored on two separate wild pitches to cut the Bobcat lead to just a single run.

The scoring would come to a halt after this inning however, with the two teams trading shutout innings.

Frontier would get another run in the sixth to increase their lead to two and were able to hold on through the later innings to come away with the 4-2 victory over the Trailblazers.

Aaron Fenn got the start on the mound for the Blazers and threw four and two-third innings, allowing three runs on nine hits and striking out three.

Sophomore Eli Steimel (Sullivan, Ind.) was the first out of the pen, throwing an inning and a third, allowing one run on three hits.

Freshman Logan Medsker (Marshall, Ill.) picked the seventh inning without allowing a hit and striking out one.

Freshman Gavin Craggs (Taylorville, Ill.) entered in the eighth and allowed one hit while striking out two.

VU is set to host the Bobcats at Jerry Blemker Field in the second half of this home-and-home series with Frontier Friday, March 31 at 12 p.m. eastern.

With rain in the forecast for Friday morning, parents and fans can stay up to date with any schedule changes by following ‘Vincennes University Athletics’ on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

BOX SCORE

VU (15-16, 4-4) – 110   000   000 – 2

Frontier – 300   001   00x – 4

VINCENNES HITTING

R – Burdette, Robinson. SB – Evans, Burdette, Elliott, Robinson. HBP – Hinton, Evans, Robinson, Brown.

EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT

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EPD

 

EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT

MEDIA

EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT FOOTNOTE:  EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT information was provided by the EPD and posted by the City-County-County Observer without opinion, bias, or editing.

Vanderburgh County Arrest Warrants

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Courier Warrants

Vanderburgh County Recent Booking Records

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Booked Last 24 Hours

Vanderburgh County Crash Report

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Crash Report

REP. HATFIELD CHARGES THAT HOUSE REPUBLICANS VOTED TO SLASH EVANSVILLE VANDERBURGH SCHOOL CORPORATION FUNDING

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REP. HATFIELD (D) CHARGES THAT HOUSE REPUBLICANS VOTED TO SLASH EVANSVILLE VANDERBURGH SCHOOL CORPORATION FUNDING

Anna Groove

Senior Press Secretary For Indiana House Democrats

March 30, 2023

INDIANAPOLIS – Due to an accounting trick by Indiana House Republicans, Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation will be on the hook financially for students’ textbook costs and saddled with an effective budget cut. State Rep. Ryan Hatfield (D-Evansville) is calling attention to the fact that EVSC will lose $1,655,200 in funding during the 2024 fiscal year to cover the cost of textbooks for all students.

In his proposed state biennial budget, Gov. Eric Holcomb threw his support behind Indiana House Democrats’ decades-long call to eliminate all textbook fees for students as its own line item entirely paid for by the state. In fact, Hatfield himself offered a bill this session to eliminate textbook fees for students, with a curriculum fund created and administered by the state to cover this cost moving forward.

House Republicans’ budget eliminates textbook funding but instead forces schools to pay for the cost of textbooks out of their state funding, even for students on free and reduced lunches, which the state currently covers.

On the surface, EVSC will receive a 1.22% increase in base student funding from 2023 to 2024, an increase from $151,098,664 to $152,946,427. But thanks to the textbook cost of $1,655,200, that increase in funding actually comes out to only 0.13% – far below the current 6.0% rate of inflation. This will result in a significant practical funding cut for EVSC.

“I filed my bill to eliminate textbook fees this session because I believe in our state constitution’s promise of a tuition-free K-12 public education for Hoosier kids,” Hatfield said. “I’ve seen the hardship caused by textbook costs going to collections for families in House District 77. This practice needs to end.

“House Republicans’ textbook proposal is nothing more than deceptive accounting. Forcing Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation to take on the cost of all textbooks for students without a corresponding funding bump will undermine the district’s ability to provide students and families with the education and programs they need to achieve success.

“This provision is hardly a win for families or kids when it will deprive schools of funding to retain teachers and fight learning loss and literacy issues. It’s stunning, really, how easy it would be for the state to give families, children and schools a win here – the cost of eliminating textbook fees is approximately in the range of $100 million annually. Our state budget totals $43 billion by comparison. Free textbooks would be a minor line item for the state with a meaningful impact for EVSC families. We should make good on delivering a solid public education to the 90% of school-age Hoosier children who attend public school by actually funding this proposal.

“I encourage all concerned parents and residents to contact their state senator and representative to express their dissatisfaction with this measure.”

As part of the House Republican budget proposal, this provision has passed out of the Indiana House of Representatives and is now under consideration by the state Senate.

FOOTNOTE: This article was posted by the City-County Observer without bias or editing.

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