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Jones named 2025 Fran Riordan Citizenship Award Recipient

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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Evansville Otters are excited to announce the Frontier League has named LJ Jones the recipient of the 2025 Fran Riordan Citizenship Award.

Selected by Frontier League general managers, coaches and media individuals, this honor proves Jones’ character has been seen across the league this season. The award annually honors the Frontier League’s player who best exhibits outstanding citizenship in the community, both on and off the field.

Jones has become a face of the Frontier League this year with outstanding enthusiasm, love and excitement. He is known for staying after games, whether that’s at home or on the road, interacting with fans, players, coaches or whoever crosses his path, always leaving a smile on their face.

“The entire organization is proud of this accomplishment for LJ,” Otters Field Manager Andy McCauley said. “The impact these players have in fans’ lives is huge and LJ has done an outstanding job to help grow the game with his character.”

Through July struggles, Jones was always keeping it positive on the field to help his teammates stay motivated, especially during warmups where he would request songs at the ballpark then proceed to dance on the field with each of his teammates – making everyone smile and laugh.

“We are incredibly proud of this honor that LJ has achieved,” Otters General Manager Brycen Moore said. “He has been the perfect model of what the Evansville Otters are looking for in the organization. LJ has positively impacted everyone that he has come in contact with and this award recognizes the person that he is.”

Jones becomes the third Otter to be recognized with the Fran Riordan Citizenship Award, joining Tyler Beardsley in 2019 and David Griffin in 2003.

Jones was especially great with the children in the Evansville community. While in the on-deck circle earlier this year, a fan asked LJ to hit a homerun for him, jokingly he said he’d try. A few moments later he launched a ball over the wall then pointed to the kid while crossing the plate, “That was for you.” LJ’s impact on his teammates, the community, and the Frontier League shows another side of baseball that helps this game live on.

Aces Set to Open Season Friday at Stegemoller Twilight

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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville men’s and women’s cross country teams open their 2025 season on Friday night, competing in the Stegemoller Twilight hosted by USI. The host Screaming Eagles welcome UE, Oakland City and Vincennes at USI Cross Country Course in Evansville. The event begins at 7:30 PM with the women’s 4K race, with the men’s 6K following at 8 PM.

On the men’s side, the Aces return 11 runners from a year ago, including three of the team’s top four finishers from last season’s NCAA Great Lakes Regional – Samuel Lea (Worchester, England), Woody Burrell (Cedarburg, Wis./Cedarbug HS) and Rafael Rodriguez (Segovia, Spain). The Aces also welcome 10 newcomers to the squad this fall, consisting of eight freshmen and two transfers.

UE’s women’s team welcomes five returners – Avery Stephens (Newburg, Ind./Castle HS), who was the Aces’ top finisher at the 2024 MVC Championships, Kyndall Anthis (Patoka, Ind./Princeton Community HS), Lauren Bradley (Russiaville, Ind./Western), Chase Hayes (Noblesville, Ind./Western HS) and Rebekah Sachs (Milwaukee, Wis./Milwaukee School of Languages). The women’s squad rounds out their 2025 roster with a six-member freshman class.

The USI Cross Country Course can be accessed at the Broadway Sports Complex on Broadway Avenue at the south end of USI’s campus.

USI begins homestand with loss against Eastern Michigan

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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Soccer fell to Eastern Michigan University, 3-1, on Thursday afternoon at Strassweg Field after Eastern Michigan broke up a 1-1 tie with a pair of second-half goals.
 
USI, which was beginning a three-match homestand on Thursday, saw its goal in the contest come off the foot of senior defender Brynn Quick for her first career goal. Overall, the Screaming Eagles notched five shots. Sophomore midfielder Emma Schut led USI with two shots. Between the posts, freshman goalkeeper Merrick Schwalbach made four saves in her first career start.
 
Eastern Michigan registered its three goals off 10 shot attempts with seven shots on target.
 
The Screaming Eagles got an early chance in Thursday’s battle when redshirt sophomore forward Eva Boer, who is the reigning Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Week, took a shot inside the box that was blocked and kick-saved away by the EMU goalkeeper.
 
Defenses controlled most of the first half, with shots coming at a premium. USI’s defense thwarted a few shot attempts in the middle of the first stanza. However, Eastern Michigan struck for the opening goal in the 27th minute on a free kick that deflected in. The game remained 1-0 going into halftime.
 
It was merely four minutes into the second half when Quick scored the equalizer for USI, making the score 1-1. The assists went to redshirt junior midfielder Emma Thurston and senior forward Peyton Murphy, who connected a couple of headers off a corner kick for the eventual tap-in tally by Quick.
 
In the minutes that followed, Eastern Michigan picked up momentum in the attacking half. The EMU Eagles jumped back in front, 2-1, with a goal in the 62nd minute. Then Eastern Michigan tacked on another with 73:55 on the clock to make it a 3-1 game.
 
USI’s Schut attempted both of her shots on the day inside the final 10 minutes to help spark the Screaming Eagles, but Eastern Michigan maintained its 3-1 advantage into the final whistle.
 
The Screaming Eagles will continue their homestand on Sunday when USI hosts Southern Illinois University at 1 p.m. from Strassweg Field. Admission to Sunday’s match is free courtesy of ProRehab. The match can also be seen with a subscription to ESPN+.

Investigation Underway Following Medical Emergency Run

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On August 27, at approximately 5:00 p.m., officers responded to a residence in the 3300 block of E. Gum Avenue following a report of a medical emergency. Upon arrival, it was determined that the female victim was beyond life-saving efforts and was pronounced deceased at the scene.

The incident is currently being treated as a death investigation. The identity of the victim will be released by the Vanderburgh County Coroner’s Office. As the investigation is still in its early stages, limited information is available at this time. However, anyone who may have info

Aces Welcome Purdue for Home Opener

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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville women’s soccer team will open their 2025 home schedule in a big way on Thursday, welcoming in-state rival and Big Ten foe Purdue to the River City for the first time in program history. Kick-off is set for 6 PM CT at Arad McCutchan Stadium.

Evansville brings a 1-1-0 record into Thursday night’s match, taking down SEMO 4-1 in the season-opener before dropping a 2-1 decision at Lindenwood last Thursday. UE’s attack has gotten off to a hot start, as their five goals through the season’s first two contests is the Aces’ highest-scoring output through two matches since 2008. Purdue enters Thursday’s match with a 2-1-1 record, defeating Indiana State and Ball State before losing to DePaul and tying with Butler.

After being named MVC Player of the Week following her three-point performance against SEMO in the opener, Taylor Johnson scored her second goal of the season at Lindenwood in the team’s last time out. Johnson’s 2.50 points per game leads The Valley, while her two goals and five points put her one shy of single-season career-highs in both categories. Taylor Wehrer has also put together two strong offensive performances, scoring UE’s first goal of the season against SEMO and assisting on Johnson’s goal at Lindenwood. Wehrer leads the Aces with seven shots, while her four shots on goal are the second-most on the team.

Thursday night marks the fifth meeting all-time between Evansville and Purdue and the first since 2015. Purdue has won each of the previous four matchups, including a 1-0 victory in the last meeting between the two sides.

Aces Set to Battle 15th-Ranked North Carolina

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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville men’s soccer team completes their two-game southern swing on Thursday with a nationally-ranked test, taking on perennial power and 15th-ranked North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Kick-off is scheduled for 6:30 PM CT from Dorrance Field.

Last Time Out
Evansville picked up a road result over the weekend, playing Mercer to a 1-1 draw on Sunday in Macon, Ga.

For the second game in a row, Evansville fell behind early, as Mercer’s Liam Corr found the back of the net in the 10th minute of action to give the Bears the lead. Evansville was quick to equalize, however. Taking control of the ball near midfield, Nacho Garcia (Zaragoza, Spain/UNIR) sent a ball down towards the box, where freshman Devin Shepherd (Denver, Colo./Arapahoe) controlled the ball off a Mercer header and chipped a shot over the head of the Mercer keeper to tie the score at one. The goal, coming in 23rd minute, was the first of Shepherd’s collegiate career.

The score would remain at one going into the half, but the second half saw the Aces take control. Evansville dominated possession throughout the second 45, creating numerous chances, but could not break through to find the winner as the afternoon ended in a 1-1 draw.

Gov. Mike Braun Orders Flags Lowered to Half-Staff as a Mark of Respect for Minneapolis Shooting Victims  

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INDIANAPOLIS – Governor Mike Braun has directed flags across the State of Indiana to be flown at half-staff as a mark of respect for the victims of today’s tragic mass shooting in Minneapolis.

This directive follows President Donald Trump’s order for flags to be lowered at all U.S. federal buildings. Flags at state facilities should remain at half-staff until sunset on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025.

Governor Braun encourages Hoosiers to help show respect for the victims and their families by lowering flags to half-staff at homes and businesses across the state.

Indiana appeals court rules that regulators ‘impermissibly’ let Duke raise rates for coal cleanup

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BY: , THE INDIANA CAPITAL CHRONICLE

Hoosier utility regulators “impermissibly applied” Indiana law retroactively when they let Duke Energy raise customer rates to recover coal ash compliance costs, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.

Judge Paul Mathias — writing for the three-member panel — reversed the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission’s decision and instructed it to reconsider or dismiss Duke’s rate increase application.

Judges Cale Bradford and Dana Kenworthy concurred.

The lawsuit has roots in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules, promulgated in 2015, for treating and disposing of toxic coal ash. Duke, which operates several coal-powered electricity generation plants in Indiana, began spending to comply.

Four years later, the company asked regulators to increase rates on Hoosier customers to recover those costs, plus anticipated expenditures. Both requests were granted.

But Indiana’s Supreme Court reversed in 2022. Hikes for the costs incurred between 2015 and 2018 were considered illegal retroactive ratemaking.

The Court of Appeals in 2023 also blocked Duke’s separate attempt to recover costs from 2018 and 2019. A month later, however, the Indiana General Assembly amended the laws dealing with federal mandates — removing a pre-approval requirement. The changes were effective upon passage.

In response, Duke filed to recover about $88 million in costs incurred from 2019 through 2023, along with $238 million in projected spending between 2024 and 2030.

Citizens Action Coalition, a ratepayer advocacy group, intervened. But regulators found that the amended laws applied because the application was filed after the effective date.

The Court of Appeals disagreed in its Tuesday opinion.

The panel argued that a federal mandate triggers the laws, not a utility company’s regulatory filing.

“As our Supreme Court has made clear: ‘a statute operates prospectively when it is applied to the operative event of the statute, and that event occurs after the statute took effect,’” Mathias wrote.

He compared Duke and the IURC’s procedural theory to using the date the state files charging information — instead of when an alleged crime occurred — as the trigger for a criminal statute.

The opinion also noted that laws typically aren’t applied retroactively unless the text explicitly says to, and “there is nothing in this language reflecting a clear intent” to do so.

Remedial statutes are an exception.

Duke has argued that the changes were remedial because they were enacted in response to the court’s earlier opinion, but Mathias called that “an incorrect statement of law … all but expressly rejected by the Indiana Supreme Court.”

Even remedial laws generally apply only prospectively unless there is a “strong and compelling” reason to apply them retroactively. Duke didn’t provide any, Mathias wrote.

The court also affirmed that Citizens Action Coalition has the standing to sue.

Illegal aliens skewed California census, Attorney General Todd Rokita says Indiana must fight back

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Attorney General Rokita supports redistricting now in Indiana

Attorney General Todd Rokita today issued the following statement:

The 2020 Census was fundamentally flawed for many reasons, including because it counted millions of illegal aliens in states like California, who should not be in our country and are not eligible to vote. Noncitizens have no voice in electing our lawmakers in Washington, so using them to inflate congressional representation is not only unfair but also completely dilutes the voices of Hoosiers and American citizens. Rewarding states that violate federal law with sanctuary policies and actively act as a magnet for illegal aliens, pulling them into their communities, not only creates a perverse incentive but also punishes law-abiding states and erodes the integrity of our democratic process.

Therefore, consistent with my reform initiatives from when I was Indiana’s Secretary of State, I strongly support efforts to move forward with redistricting Indiana’s federal congressional seats. As Indiana’s Attorney General, my office will be tasked with defending the maps passed by the General Assembly in court, and if passed, I am fully committed to ensuring those maps reflect the will of Hoosiers and withstand legal scrutiny. I’m done bringing a knife to a gunfight against aggressive, nonstop left-wing tactics. It’s time to fight on an even playing field and secure fair representation for our state.