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The Smart Money Is On The Kitten For The Win

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The Smart Money Is On The Kitten For The Win

INDIANAPOLIS—Now that the brave and compassionate souls in the Indiana General Assembly have finished their jihad against transgender athletes, perhaps they can find a new target for their next crusade.
John Krull, publisher, TheStatehouseFile.com

Maybe they can pick a fight with declawed kittens.

No, declawed kittens still have teeth and might be able to bite. The thought that our courageous legislators might receive a nip on the ankle or wrist for abusing a creature that never did them any harm would terrify the lawmakers right out of their socks and stockings.

You see, our elected officials here in Indiana prefer to wage war on opponents who lack the means to fight back. Their definition of fairness is one that involves rigging the contest in their favor, everywhere and all the time.

That’s why they focused their ire on transgender athletes.

They conjured up a problem that didn’t exist—only two young Hoosiers in the past decade have petitioned the Indiana High School Athletic Association to compete as transgender athletes—and then offered up a solution so draconian that only Fyodor Dostoevsky’s grand inquisitor could love it.

They pushed a bill through the 2022 legislative session banning transgender athletes from competing in kindergarten through 12th-grade sports.

Then, when Gov. Eric Holcomb vetoed it on the sensible grounds that it just wasn’t necessary, they hurried back into session to override his veto.

Moments after the lawmakers voted their pogrom into law, probably while they still were exchanging handshakes and high fives congratulating each other for their courage, the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed suit on behalf of a 10-year-old transgender girl who wants to continue playing softball at her elementary school. (Disclosure: Nearly 20 years ago, I was executive director of what is now the ACLU of Indiana.)

That’s right—our big, bad, brave lawmakers are duking it out with a 10-year-old girl who just wants to play softball with her friends.

Makes one proud to be a Hoosier, doesn’t it?

At least two things make this campaign of persecution offensive—the cruelty driving the effort and the idiocy behind it.

Let’s talk about the sheer meanness involved first.

Only .58% of Americans identify as transgender. Here in Indiana, the number is even lower—.4%.

Many of these young people feel they don’t belong—in their communities, in their schools, even in their own bodies. They long to find a place where they feel at home.

Sports long have provided a means for alienated young people to find a place in a world they too often feel is hostile to them.

But that’s exactly the refuge our legislators have taken away from these youthful fellow human beings. Our lawmakers want to make it clear to children who already have a hard path to walk through life that they just aren’t and won’t ever be part of the team.

There are words to describe that sort of conduct.

“Kind” isn’t among them.

Neither is “decent.”

Then there’s the sheer foolishness of this witch hunt.

If the state loses the ACLU lawsuit—and there’s a good chance it will—then we taxpayers will be on the hook to pay both the state’s and the ACLU’s legal fees.

What else could that money pay for? A police officer on the streets? A teacher in the classroom?

Or maybe both?

The lawmakers say all this is worth it because—citing no evidence whatsoever—transgender athletes have unfair physical advantages. That’s what they care about, they say.

If that were true, they’d be using their pitchforks to prevent Shaquille O’Neal (bigger than everyone else), LeBron James (faster and stronger than other human beings) and Larry Bird (unearthly eye-hand coordination) from ever competing.

And the lawmakers would do away with all tournaments and competitions to determine who’s best and insist that only participation trophies be handed out.

The most troubling thing about this whole episode is that the lawmakers felt like they had the time to devote to this cruel nonsense.

I mean, it’s not as if we Americans have schoolchildren being shot down in the classroom or a million fellow citizens dying of a deadly disease or raging inflation or any other genuine problem to deal with.

Of course, confronting those problems would involve true courage.

That’s why our lawmakers prefer to battle with declawed kittens.

Once their teeth also have been pulled, that is.

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.

Craig Snow Returns To UE As Assistant Coach

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Craig Snow Returns To UE As Assistant Coach

Ragland Makes First Hire To Coaching Staff

MAY 29, 2022

 EVANSVILLE, Ind. – When University of Evansville head men’s basketball coach David Ragland was introduced to Purple Aces fans on Wednesday, he established a goal of reconnecting supporters with the program.  Today, he showed UE supporters that he is committed to that goal as he announced the hiring of program legend Craig Snow as his first assistant coach.

One of the most storied careers in program history saw Snow accumulate 1,530 points in his career, a total that remains 10th in the record books to this day.  Snow was a member of the 1998-1999 squad who advanced to the NCAA Tournament.  In the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, Snow led the Aces to the championship game while earning a spot on the All-Tournament Team.  A member of the conference Most Improved Team in 1999, Snow helped the team earn the regular season MVC championship.

“I am elated to have Craig and his family join our men’s basketball staff. Craig is an obvious choice for the position for numerous reasons that extend far beyond his days as a standout player for our program,” Ragland said.  “The fact that Craig has sat in every seat within a program is invaluable. His understanding for what it takes to run a successful program from the ground up was what attracted me to having him on staff. He has a wealth of knowledge in all aspects of the job. Craig is extremely passionate about restoring the success of our storied program and I look forward to working with him as we strive to achieve those goals.”

As a junior in the 1999-2000 season, Snow was named an All-MVC First Team player before earning a nod on the second team in 2001.  In his final two seasons as a player, he paced the team with 16.3 and 14.6 points per game, respectively.  Snow was also the leading rebounder for UE during those two years.

Following his playing days, Snow enjoyed success as a coach at multiple levels.  Most recently, he worked at the University of New Mexico where he was a special assistant to the head coach.  He assumed the position in July of 2019.  Prior to that, he spent five seasons as the head men’s basketball coach at New Mexico Highlands University while spending part of that time as the interim and full-time athletic director.

“I am extremely grateful to be returning to the University of Evansville to work for Coach Ragland, as he shapes the next chapter in our great and storied history. He is someone I have known and respected for years, both personally and professionally. There are very few, if any, opportunities that would have attracted me this strongly,” Snow exclaimed.  “It was the fulfillment of a dream to play for the Purple Aces and win a championship there after having followed them as a kid. To return to the program as a coach is something that resonates with me very deeply.  I’m looking forward to getting to campus and starting this journey to the top of the Missouri Valley Conference!”

During his tenure at NMHU, Snow coached six All-RMAC and three all-region players.  In his final season with the program, he guided his squad to a program-record 22 wins, the Cowboys’ first Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Tournament title and second NCAA Tournament appearance. He coached the Cowboys to 14 RMAC wins twice, tied for second-most wins in single-season program history.

Prior to his time at NMHU, Snow spent three seasons on the UNM men’s basketball staff. In 2013-14 as an assistant coach, Snow helped guide the Lobos to a 27-7 record, a Mountain West Tournament Championship and a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament. New Mexico was ranked as high as 17th nationally in the 2013-14 season.

UNM went a combined 84-20 with three Mountain West Tournament titles and three appearances in the NCAA Tournament during his first stint with the program. Snow spent his final season with UNM as an assistant coach after serving as the director of basketball operations in 2012-13 and the video administrator in 2011-12.

After receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in physical education from Evansville in 2001, he went on to play professionally overseas in both Luxembourg and Austria. While in Luxembourg in 2001-02, he averaged more than 30 points per game and was voted to the all-star team.  Following his stint overseas, Snow made his way to New Mexico for the first time to be the head boys’ basketball coach at Bosque in Albuquerque from 2004-11, also serving as athletic director from 2005-11. At Bosque, Snow led the Bobcats to a 125-69 record, five state tournament appearances, three district championships and a state semifinal appearance.

Snow is married to Dr. Jessica Snow, who received her Ph. D. from The University of New Mexico in 2009, and they have two children: Adelynn and Beckett.

 

College Graduation Offers Reason To Celebrate—And Feel Uncertain Of New Beginnings

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College Graduation Offers Reason To Celebrate—And Feel Uncertain Of New Beginnings

Taylor Wooten poses on May 21—her graduation day—in front of Shirk Hall, home to Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism.

I just graduated from Franklin College this past weekend. I moved all of my stuff home the same day.

Everything I own is back in my childhood bedroom. Lots of it, sentimental of my time at Franklin. Dozens of newspapers, magazines, clips, and other work I did at internships and with The Franklin, the college’s student newsmagazine, and The Statehouse File are packed into boxes. Drawers are stuffed with FC-branded gear from track and cross country. My cap and gown still hang on my door hook.

I’m not one to throw things away.

I lived at the college over the summer, and many breaks were taken up by track and cross-country trips. My dorms became more familiar than my bedroom. Now I have to choose whether I’d rather have a walkway through my room or a bed to sleep on. The lack of room in my childhood bedroom feels like a metaphor for how I’m quickly outgrowing the space I filled in my parents’ home for 22 years.

I’m momentarily stuck in a weird in-between. I’ve turned in the key to my dorm, left the numerous work-related and running-related group chats I’ve had for years, and am now awaiting the resolution to, “What’s next?” I’ve been in an anxious, squirrelly state of constantly checking my email, hoping for responses to job interviews or updates on ongoing interview processes. Hoping for reassurance or a glimpse of stability at the end of the tunnel.

I don’t completely doubt my abilities or my employability. But this time is confusing, scary, and mostly weird. I don’t know what to change my email signature too. Unemployed?

I won’t be sitting here for long, though. I get the opportunity to learn from journalists at POLITICO next week. This will be just my third time on a plane, my first alone. It’ll be my first time in D.C., and I’m hoping to not mix up all the white buildings or take the wrong train.

I’m sure this period of uncertainty is just another stage in the grand scheme of things. Having parents, friends, and a significant another worry about where you’ll be in a few weeks. Experiencing the pressure of making correct decisions. Wondering when you’ll actually be back in a routine.

I’m hopeful that I’ll find a place to put all of my newspapers soon. They can’t keep taking up my bed.

FOOTNOTE: Taylor Wooten is a recently graduated alumna of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students, and Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism.

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Public Health Alert for Ready-To-Eat Salad Products Containing Peanut Butter May Be Contaminated With Salmonella

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FSIS Issues Public Health Alert for Ready-to-Eat Salad Products Containing Peanut Butter that May be Contaminated with Salmonella

A G SPECIALTY FOODS

FSIS Announcement

WASHINGTON, May 27, 2022 –The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is issuing a public health alert for ready-to-eat (RTE) salad products containing Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulated peanut butter that has been recalled by J.M. Smucker Company due to potential Salmonella contamination. FSIS is issuing this public health alert to ensure that consumers are aware that this product should not be consumed.The salad products were produced between 5/11/2022 and 5/23/2022. The following products subject to the public health alert are [view labels]:

  • 14.5-oz. plastic clamshell containers labeled “Super Asian Chicken Salad” with a “Best Thru” date of 05/16 through 06/03.

The product bears establishment number “P-214” inside the USDA mark of inspection. These items were distributed to an Amazon Go retail location in Washington.

The problem was discovered when FSIS was notified by the establishment that the salad dressing component of the RTE salad product was formulated with peanut butter that has been recalled.

There have been no confirmed reports of illness or adverse reactions due to the consumption of these products. Anyone concerned about an illness should contact a health care provider.

Consumption of food contaminated with Salmonella can cause salmonellosis, one of the most common bacterial foodborne illnesses. The most common symptoms of salmonellosis are diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever within 6 hours to 6 days after eating the contaminated product. The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days. Most people recover without treatment. In some persons, however, the diarrhea may be so severe that the patient needs to be hospitalized. Older adults, infants, and persons with weakened immune systems are more likely to develop a severe illness. Individuals concerned about an illness should contact their health care provider.

FSIS is concerned that some products may be in consumers’ refrigerators. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.

Media and consumers with questions regarding the public health alert can contact Brian Schkeryantz, A G Specialty Foods, at 949-293-3963 or brian@agspecialtyfoodsinc.com.

Consumers with food safety questions can call the toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 888-MPHotline (888-674-6854) or live chat via Ask USDA from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday through Friday. Consumers can also browse food safety messages at Ask USDA or send a question via email to MPHotline@usda.gov. For consumers that need to report a problem with a meat, poultry, or egg product, the online Electronic Consumer Complaint Monitoring System can be accessed 24 hours a day at https://foodcomplaint.fsis.usda.gov/eCCF/.

Cafeteria Worker Has Spent Decades Feeding Statehouse Employees

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Cafeteria Worker Has Spent Decades Feeding Statehouse Employees

INDIANAPOLIS—Brenda Ward, 62, can’t stand it when people look at their cell phones while trying to order their food.

When someone has their face buried in pixels, she skips them for the next person in line.

Ward misses the “hot-dog days” of years past when she and the staff would set out a bar offering unlimited toppings.

It frustrates her when people ignore the obvious, too. On cue, a customer approached her and asked for a V8.

“If they aren’t up there, we don’t have ‘em,” she replied abruptly.

He placed his items next to the register. She grinned and rang up his order. She wiped the popcorn machine with a paper towel and glass cleaner and cleaned an overused tea kettle with a rag.

“When it’s time to go, you ready—gotta get outta here at 3.” She sighed. “We never get out at 3.”

She and her coworker, Nancy, gathered their belongings at 3:08 p.m, and Ward sealed the cafeteria in the basement of the Indiana Statehouse behind a metal gate.

She’s been cleaning and serving for 20 years.

“I’ve been doing it for so long now that it don’t even phase me,” she said.

Her glance tilted upward as a man left the register with soda in hand.

“Thanks, Hunter,” she said.

He visits every day.

Brenda Ward serves a customer in the Statehouse cafeteria. She said Monday is a hodge-podge day, Tuesday is for tacos, Wednesday is for pulled pork nachos, Thursday is leftover day and Friday is for the regular menu items.

Ward said the visitors come for the chat. She knows their names and has many of their orders memorized.

“They love us, and that’s true. They love the customer service and the way we treat ‘em,” Ward said. “We treat people with respect.”

She likes to tell people about her family: She has four children, 15 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

“Our children are grown, so it’s a quiet life,” Ward said. “They ain’t been down here [the Statehouse] in a long time … They used to come in their younger years and just walk through and just visit their mama.”

Her current spell marks her second time working at the Statehouse. She spent a few years working at Government Center South, but she’s back to her home base.

During the legislative session, she rarely gets to sit down. She regularly runs out of certain food items, especially beef hot dogs.

Legislators eat a lot of beef hot dogs, and she doesn’t know why.

“I like a lot of [the legislators] because they do sit down and talk to you,” Ward said. “They don’t just walk away. We talk. We conversate.”

She listed her favorite politicians, straining her memory for the names of sharply dressed people who have stopped to gab—it’s a long list. Perhaps she’s had her fill. She plans to retire in August and spend more time with her 81-year-old mother.

An older man pointed at her as she cleaned the counter.

“You missed a spot,” he said.

“Behave,” she retorted.

She gestured with a smirk. “He’s been my boyfriend for years. Remember when you gave me that card when I turned 50? I still have that. It’s been a while.”

“That was just yesterday,” he said.

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HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

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Southern Indiana Wineries 

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Southern Indiana Wineries 

Written by Dannie McIntire

MAY 28, 2022

Many readers may not realize that southern Indiana has many “family” operated wineries. My wife and I were first introduced to the local wineries by a couple we had become friends with when we first moved to Indiana. They invited us to go with them on a “wine run”, and since up to that time I had never liked the taste of wine, I volunteered to drive us. At the first winery we stopped at that day, after sampling their red sweet wines, the man who did not like wine, was suddenly “throwing them back”.

Most of our southern Indiana wineries, while producing many of the same variety of wines, have their own unique taste. A concord wine at one will taste slightly different from the next winery.

You’ll find each winery has a unique setting and atmosphere. Most of the wineries my wife and I have visited so far have been “family owned”; the owners themselves often conduct the sampling, and you’ll discover they love to tell you about their winery and wine-making process. 

Some will invite you to join and help out with the harvesting of grapes from their vineyards when it’s time, at one we were invited down into their bottling room to try our hand at applying the neck heat shrink capsules.

Several of the wineries during the summer months have free concerts, buy a bottle of their wine, or two, and enjoy a relaxing outing listening to music under the summer sky. 

One tip which I’ll pass on courtesy of my wife Lindy, and sister-in-law Sherry, if you enjoy red wines, you should not wear white shorts. By the end of one visit, both looked as if they had been stomping grapes for the winery.

While not inclusive, the following are southern Indian wineries my wife and I have visited which I believe the reader would enjoy that have “less of a business” and more of a “family winery” atmosphere;

  • Indian Creek Winery-6491 County Line Rd NE, Georgetown, IN  
  • Best Vineyards-8373 Morgans Ln SE, Elizabeth, IN 
  • Turtle Run Winery-940 St Peters Church Rd NE, Corydon, IN
  • Blue Heron Vineyard-5530 Blur Heron Ln, Cannelton, IN 
  • Winzerwald Winery-26300 North Indian Lake Road, Bristow, IN
  • Brown County Winery-4520 State Rd 46 East, Nashville, IN
  • Hunter’s Ridge Winery-9945 E Garrison Hollow Rd, Salem, IN

This summer if you’re a wine connoisseur, or a novice like me, take trip to explore and enjoy our many local wineries, tell them the Evansville Observer sent you.   

MEMORIAL DAY By Jim Redwine

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MEMORIAL DAY

GAVEL GAMUT By Jim Redwine

MAY 28, 2022

My earliest memories of Memorial Day involved hot cemeteries where all the adult women spent a great deal of time loudly hushing all the children and the few men in attendance furtively smoked cigarettes while shifting from foot to foot. Any attempt by me or my brother, Philip, to chase butterflies or engage in horseplay was met with stern stares and an occasional knock on the head or a swat on the tail.

Mother had three brothers and one sister who had served in the Army in WWII and Mom observed the service of all veterans solemnly and reverently; she demanded her children properly learn the ritual. Our role was to honor the dead soldiers and show gratitude to those veterans who were still with us.

Memorial Day has slowly metamorphosized from a national day of honoring veterans to a general recognition of all who have passed on. And Mother and her mother and their mainly female friends and relatives saw their duty to include the graves of deceased loved ones in various cemeteries in divergent locales. Mom would load all four of us kids and bunches of freshly cut ferns and flowers into a black Ford without air conditioning and without a thought on her part of a cold pop or an ice cream cone for us. She would say that was scant penance on our part to repay the sacrifice of our service people and their families.

I do not know how many veterans’ gravesites Mom dragged me to before I joined the Air Force myself during the Viet Nam War. I did not get sent to Viet Nam but several of my childhood friends did. One of them, twenty-two-year-old Gary Malone, went twice but he only came back once. That changed my understanding of Mom’s dedication to Decoration Day. I may be generally obtuse but I no longer needed a pointed stare, a tap on the head or a kick in the behind to appreciate Memorial Day. I sure wish Gary were here so I could tell him but his veteran’s memorial marker is close to my Mom and Dad in the local cemetery so I can, at least, salute Gary as I visit the folks on Decoration Day. I now get it; as always, Mother knew best. 

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