FOOTNOTE: EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT information was provided by the EPD and posted by the City-County-County Observer without opinion, bias, or editing.
Indiana LG’s office closures, staff instructions suggest contrast with return-to-office order
Staff were allowed to work from home despite Gov. Mike Braun’s order requiring full-time office returns.
Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith’s office, located inside the statehouse, appeared closed and vacant on July 11, 2025. (Niki Kelly/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith’s statehouse office has been repeatedly closed during public business hours in recent weeks — at times with no signage posted and no staff inside — even as Gov. Mike Braun has ordered a broad return to in-person work for state employees.
The Indiana Capital Chronicle visited the lieutenant governor’s office six times between late June and mid-July and found it dark or locked on four occasions. Three of the closures — June 20, June 27 and July 11 — fell on Fridays.
Internal office communications obtained by the Capital Chronicle appeared to show staff were allowed to work remotely on some of those days.
One June 20 message, for example, indicated that, “Due to the LG travel schedule – the office will be closed and everyone may work from home. Please update your calendars accordingly.”
Jim Kehoe, a spokesperson for the lieutenant governor’s office, told the Capital Chronicle June 30 that the office “just happened to be closed on those days because of staffing.”
“It was really just coincidence that it happened two Fridays in a row,” he said. “I do not anticipate that happening again, and if it does it will be the exception.”
But nearly two weeks later, on July 11, another Friday, the Capital Chronicle again found the office locked, with no lights on and no staff inside.
The office was open on July 18, with at least one staffer visibly present.
The lieutenant governor’s office was also closed on July 3, a Thursday, for what staff described as an “office field trip” to a farm in Noblesville. A sign posted that day read, “Sorry we missed you! Our team is currently unavailable due to an all-staff meeting. Please scan here if you would like to schedule an appointment.”
In a message to staff that week, office leadership advised that “if you aren’t joining us at the farm – work from home cuz the office will be closed.”
In a follow-up email to the Capital Chronicle, Kehoe said the office’s approach was consistent with the governor’s direction: “Our work from home policy complies with Governor Braun’s executive order.”
The state transparency portal shows the Lieutenant Governor’s office has 39 employees split between offices in the Statehouse and an adjacent office building.
Asked about the closures, Braun reaffirmed his push to get employees back to their offices.
“Unless there’s a good reason for that, where it may make no difference … to really get things done, you’ve got to collaborate,” Braun said Thursday. “And I saw so many instances and some actual recordings I heard of folks working from home that would have been confusing even to see which day they were answering the phone.”
He added that there are a few jobs where remote work makes sense but said “most of them, you need to be together to collaborate. You’re already paying the expenses — the leases and the buildings and the upkeep. Why not? Doesn’t make sense.”
Braun’s back-to-work executive order, issued Jan. 14, called for a sweeping end to hybrid work arrangements and emphasized a return to daily in-person staffing across all state agencies.
The policy, which took full effect July 1, specifically instructed agency heads to eliminate regular remote work on Fridays and to ensure the public has full access to services during standard business hours.
The order applies to all executive-branch employees, including staff in the lieutenant governor’s office, unless exempted for operational reasons.
“When it comes to other state office holders, they’re independent,” Braun said. “I’ve been very clear: I want to get things done and focus on kitchen table issues.”
EVANSVILLE POLICE MERIT COMMISSION MEETING AGENDA
EVANSVILLE POLICE MERIT COMMISSION
MEETING AGENDA
Monday, July 28th, 2025
4:15 p.m. Room 307, Civic Center Complex
- EXECUTIVE SESSION:
- An executive session will be held prior to the open session.
- The executive session is closed as provided by:
- I.C. 5-14-1.5-6.1(b)(5): To receive information about and interview prospective employees.
- I.C. 5-14-1.5-6.1(b)(6)(A): With respect to any individual over whom the governing body has jurisdiction to receive information concerning the individual’s alleged misconduct.
- I.C. 5-14-1.5-6.1(b)(9): To discuss a job performance evaluation of individual employees. This subdivision does not apply to a discussion of the salary, compensation, or benefits of employees during a budget process.
- OPEN SESSION:
- CALL TO ORDER:
- ACKNOWLEDGE GUESTS:
- APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
-
- June 23rd, 2025 (Sutton, Johnson-Kincaid, Thompson)
- APPROVAL OF CLAIMS:
- PROBATIONARY OFFICER UPDATE:
-
- Final Merit Interview for Officer Levi Hoehn, Officer Raylynn Vires, Officer Joshua Rauscher, Officer Nathaniel Byers, and Officer Chase Hale
- Probationary Period Extension for Officer Jordan Rundle
- Update for Probationary Officers in Field Training and SWILEA.
- APPLICANTS:
-
- 25-163
- 25-103
- 25-065
- 25-054
- RETIREMENTS
-
- Officer Joseph Dale Dickinson, Badge Number 1231, retiring effective July 28th, 2025, after serving twenty-five years, ten months, and sixteen days with the Evansville Police Department.
- RESIGNATIONS
-
- Officer Michael Dana Ray Bailey, Badge Number 1607, resigned effective July 1st, 2025, after serving eleven months and sixteen days with the Evansville Police Department.
- Officer Lavarus Lakeith Giles, Badge Number 1423, resigned effective July 6th, 2025, after serving eight years, eleven months, and twenty-six days with the Evansville Police Department.
- Officer John Bernard Porter, Jr, Badge Number 1403, resigned effective July 14th, 2025, after serving eleven years, five months, and seventeen days with the Evansville Police Department.
- REMINDERS:
-
- The next scheduled meeting is Monday, August 11th, 2025, at 4:15pm.
- ADJOURNMENT:
THE BATTLE OF HONEY SPRINGS
GAVEL GAMUT
By Jim Redwine
www.jamesmredwine.com
(Week of 28 July 2025)
THE BATTLE OF HONEY SPRINGS
Just as my public-school education failed to lead one to analogies involving America’s Manifest Destiny and slavery or the genocide of indigenous peoples, it often concentrated on the perceived benefits bestowed on both Negroes and first Americans by their white governors. Black and Indian contributions to our shared history were generally omitted or diminished. My knowledge of these significant influences on America’s unrelenting march from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico came mostly by coincidence. Such was the case when Peg and I heard about the Civil War Battle of Honey Springs.
Our first exposure to this most important Civil War conflict in Indian Territory came from a brief mention of it on PBS just this past spring. We researched it, on the Internet of course, and discovered it occurred July 17, 1863 near Checotah, Oklahoma which is only about an hour and a half from our home in Osage County, Oklahoma. It was readily apparent why this “Gettysburg of the West” is barely a blip in our nation’s consciousness. Although the battle determined whether the Union or Confederate forces would control the vital Texas Road that protected supply lines from Mexico to Kansas right through the heart of Indian Territory (Oklahoma), the soldiers who fought the desperate fight consisted of white, Black and several tribes of Native Americans who supported both sides.
In fact, the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry was instrumental in the battle for the Union and several Black soldiers fought alongside Creek, Choctaw, Cherokee, Seminole and Chickasaw warriors who had divided loyalties for both the North and the South. The commander of the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry was the only white man for that brigade.
Honey Springs, the location of this battle involving several thousand soldiers for each side, was named for a gigantic beehive that was attached to a large oak tree near the running spring. As with much of military history the outcome of the battle hinged on the weather. The Southern forces were in that location because the commander of Southern Forces in the Indian Territory, Maj. Gen. William Steele, ordered the capture of fairly nearby Ft. Gibson. Steele dispatched troops under Brig. Gen. Douglas Cooper to meet up with other Confederate troops under the command of Gen. Cabell whose men were about 25 miles from Honey Springs. His soldiers did a forced march through rain, mud and swollen streams but arrived late to the battle between Cooper’s and Union Gen. James G. Blunt’s soldiers. The fight was already a Union victory and the Texas Road as well as Ft. Gibson remained in Union control throughout the remainder of the Civil War.
History may normally be written by the victors but America’s history has usually been written by white people east of the Mississippi River. Such is the case of Honey Springs. Some Civil War analysts posit this battle crippled any chance the Confederacy could recover from U.S. Grant’s victorious siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi that caused Southern Gen. John Pemberton to surrender to Grant on July 04, 1863, two weeks before the Union victory at Honey Springs.
Vicksburg secured Union control of the Mississippi River and the South’s loss at Honey Springs prevented the South from circumventing the Mississippi via the Texas Road. Gen. Cooper blamed the loss on inferior gunpowder that the South had to purchase from Mexico. Also, the rain made the inferior powder even more defective.
But what I suggest I and other Americans should have learned is the service of Black and First American conflicting loyalties and the reasons for them. Also, it should be noted that the “Gettysburg of the West” was and is deserving of a place in our country’s Volksgeist. If you are prone to Civil War reenactments, Gentle Reader, the Battle of Honey Springs reenactment will take place after the intense Oklahoma July heat is more kind to woolen uniforms on November 8, 2025. You can find more information about the battle and the reenactment weekend activities online at www.okhistory.org.
For more Gavel Gamut articles go to www.jamesmredwine.com
Reps. O’Brien, McNamara receive summer study committee appointments
STATEHOUSE (July 24, 2025) – State Reps. Tim O’Brien (R-Evansville) and Wendy McNamara (R-Evansville) recently received appointments to serve on interim study committees, which will meet throughout the summer and fall to explore policy issues and work to identify solutions.
Legislators will hear testimony from the public, experts and stakeholders as they work on bill recommendations ahead of the next legislative session which begins in January.
O’Brien will serve as a member of the Indiana-Ireland Trade Commission and the Lewis and Clark Expedition Commission.
“I am proud to have authored legislation this past session that will strengthen Indiana’s already established cultural and economic ties with Ireland—our state’s largest importing trade partner,” O’Brien said. “Our work during the interim will support this initiative, potentially bringing new investments and business opportunities to Hoosiers.”
McNamara will serve as vice chair of the Interim Study Committee on Corrections and Criminal Code and as a member of the Justice Reinvestment Advisory Council and the Board of Trustees of the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute.
“As chair of the House Courts and Criminal Code Committee, I often review legislation alongside my colleagues during session that stems from these committees,” McNamara said. “These study committees can offer valuable insight from both legislators and constituents as we gear up for the next legislative session and work to address issues impacting Hoosiers.”
The 2025 legislative interim study committee assignments and topics can be found here and legislative appointments for each committee are listed here. Committee hearings and agendas can be viewed on the Indiana General Assembly’s website at iga.in.gov.
Attorney General Todd Rokita revs up warning on fake Brickyard 400 tickets
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Ivy Tech to Offer Early Childhood Apprenticeship Program in Jasper
Evansville, IN – Ivy Tech Community College Evansville, is now accepting students for a registered Department of Labor Early Childhood Educator Apprenticeship Program in Jasper, on Aug. 25. The program is designed to strengthen Indiana’s early care and education workforce by expanding high-quality post-secondary education and training options for early childhood education professionals.
The classes – Early Childhood Education 100 and 101 – are planned to be offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7:50-10:20 a.m. (EST) at TRI-CAP, 607 Third Ave., Jasper, IN for 8 weeks.
The Early Childhood Educator apprenticeship offers an accelerated path to a career in education. Those completing the program will earn a:
- Classroom Support Specialist Program Micro-Credential
- Child Development Associate (CDA) certification
- Early Childhood Certificate from Ivy Tech Community College (which can be seamlessly stacked so individuals can go on to pursue their associate degree)
- U.S. Department of Labor Journeyperson certificate
Participants may also qualify for the TEACH Early Childhood Indiana scholarship. Through this, tuition and textbook support may be provided.
The apprenticeship requires 2,000 hours of working in the field, so this program may be ideal for individuals who are working in the childcare field currently, who do not have these credentials, said Andrea Boberg, program chair at Ivy Tech. “We are working together to provide opportunities for local providers and staff to increase their professional skills and knowledge along with wages and overall program quality.”
On June 25, Ivy Tech Evansville announced this first-of-its kind DOL registered apprenticeship in Indiana with employer partner Carver Community Organization. and improves the quality of the state’s early childhood education sector by retaining talented and dedicated early care and education professionals.”
Ivy Tech Chancellor Daniela Vidal said a variety of versions of this program are, or soon will be, initiated, including one designed for high school students offered during the school day during the 2026-27 school year.
There will also be skills training classes offered in the near future. This summer, 10 students are finishing a pilot skills class. This 60-hour self-paced, online course has a 90-hour component of hands-on learning as students work and learn in the field.
Color Outside the Lines | July 30
Event Details:
Date: Wednesday July 30
Time: 2 PM
Location: Willard Park
Color Outside the Lines – Summer Reading Program
Let your imagination run wild! Join us Tuesday, July 30 at 2 PM at Willard Public Library for Color Outside the Lines, a fun and messy art day where creativity knows no bounds.
Kids can explore different art stations, try new techniques, and make their own colorful masterpieces—no rules, just fun! Part of our Color Our World Summer Reading series, this program is perfect for young artists who love to get a little messy while they create.
To sign up for the Summer Reading Program and view the full schedule, visit: https://www.willardlib.org/children-s-summer-reading-program
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