Swimming and Diving set for Senior Day on Friday afternoon
Aces welcome UIC to Deaconess Aquatic Center
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – On Friday afternoon, the University of Evansville swimming and diving teams will hold Senior Day recognition when the squads take on UIC at Deaconess Aquatic Center. Senior Day festivities begin at approximately 12:30 p.m. with the meet set to commence at 1 p.m. There is no charge to attend the meet.
Four Purple Aces seniors will be recognized on Friday including Mia Pesavento, Hannah Krings, Evelyn Chin, and Mohammed Rashed.
Evansville last competed at the A3 Invite in November with both the men’s and women’s squads earning 4th-place finishes. There were multiple highlights from the final day of the meet. The personal bests keep coming, Harry McDowell saw personal bests in the 100 Free and 50 Free (Time Trial), with a 48.46 and 21.83. Sophomore Delaney Miller swam a 54.71 in the 100 Free, and freshmen Robert Hargrove swam a 2:10.80 200 Breast.
In the A Final of the 1650 Free Joseph Capo was 7th for the Ace’s with a final time of 16:18.65. In the morning, freshmen Bryce Ryan and Luke Cook placed 9th and 12th with Cook having a personal best time best of 16:53.47. In the 200 Back Jaley Hamilton placed 11th, her 2:09.20 being a personal best time. Teammate Luana Carrotta swam a season best 2:10.62 for 14th. In the morning Captain Boris Tavrosky swam a season best 1:55.25 for 12th. Freshmen Carter Bolling has a personal best time of 1:58.07, another great performance.
Grace Moody was the highest finisher for the Ace’s in the 100 Free, her 51.84 earned her 5th place. In the B Final Evelyn Chin placed 12th for the Ace’s her 52.92 being a personal best for the junior. Senior Mia Pesavento won the C Final by almost a full second, her time was a 53.68.
The Men’s 100 Free saw A Finalist Sammy McCall swim a morning time of 45.94 the fastest time of the Aces this season. In the B Final Michael Pruett swam a 46.24 a solid swim from the junior. In the D Final, freshmen Tyler Jackson won the heat with a 47.90, with teammate Brendan Ulewicz placing just behind Jackson with a 48.19.
UE Softball announces 2026 schedule
Season is just under a month away
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – A challenging slate awaits the University of Evansville softball team in 2026. New Purple Aces head coach Bailey Dillender has put together a non-conference schedule that includes four reigning conference champions to prepare her squad for the Missouri Valley Conference.
“We are excited for the opportunities this season presents for Aces softball,” Dillender said. “I am excited to get started and for our team to have the opportunity to compete. I believe our non-conference slate came together nicely to help us prepare for Missouri Valley play starting in March.”
Action officially begins on February 6 when UE travels to Macon, Ga. for the Heart of Georgia Classic. Reigning Big South Tournament Champion Mercer is hosting the tournament. The Bears won 40 games last season while advancing to the finals at the Gainesville Regional. Evansville faces the Bears in two games while facing Maine in two contests and North Carolina A&T in one match-up.
Non-conference play continues Feb. 13 at the 901 Classic in Memphis, Tenn. Hosted by the University of Memphis, UE will face five opponents that weekend including the Tigers, Miami Ohio, USI, Ball State, and Kansas City. The RedHawks are the defending Mid-American Conference Tournament champions where they played in the Knoxville Regional and earned a victory over North Carolina.
Another big weekend is on tap on Feb. 21 when the Aces travel to Conway, Ark. UE will face Central Arkansas twice while taking on Southeastern Louisiana and Saint Louis once. The Lions of Southeastern Louisiana won 50 games in 2025 on the way to the Southland Conference Championship. At the Baton Rouge Regional, the Lions earned two victories over 10th-ranked LSU. The Billikens were the Atlantic 10 Tournament Champs a season ago and advanced to the Fayetteville Regional. In its final non-conference weekend trip, UE travels to North Alabama for three games. UNA is coming off a 30-win season.
Following a trip to Butler on March 4, the Aces take to the field at Tri-State Orthopaedics Field at James and Dorothy Cooper Stadium for the first time on March 6 to open MVC action against Illinois State. League weekends in 2026 will generally consist of a Friday doubleheader and a single game on Saturday. After traveling to Louisville for a single game on March 10, Evansville opens a series at defending MVC Tournament Champion Belmont on the 13th.
Home action continues March 17 with a doubleheader against Indiana State before Murray State comes to town a 3-game set beginning on March 20. UE completes the month with a road trip to Drake. The month of April opens with four home games including a single contest versus Bellarmine on April 1. On the 3rd, UE opens a 3-game series versus UNI. Evansville travels to Southern Illinois on the 7th for a doubleheader then returns home for non-conference games versus SEMO (4/14) and Western Kentucky (4/15).
The final eight games of the month will be on the road starting with three games at Bradley on April 17-18. UE travels to Northern Kentucky on the 21st before trekking to UIC for a series on the 24th and 25th. On April 29, Evansville travels to Indiana University for a single contest.
UE welcomes Valparaiso for the final weekend of the regular season on May 1-2. The 2026 MVC Championship is set to run from May 6-9 in Carbondale, Ill.
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.
AJ Casey resets career scoring high against Murray State
Casey scored 24 points versus the Racers
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – AJ Casey reset his career scoring mark as he finished with 24 points on Wednesday evening to lead the University of Evansville men’s basketball team in a 79-69 loss to Murray State at the Ford Center.
Another efficient shooting effort saw Casey go 10-of-13 from the floor while adding a triple and five boards. He is the first UE player this season to record 10 field goals in a game. Josh Hughes scored 14 points while Bryce Quinet added 13. James Dyson-Merwe led the team with six boards while Leif Moeller added five assists.
“Our effort tonight was really good. We did a nice job of executing our game plan especially in the first half,” UE head coach David Ragland said. “They finished the first half on a 12-0 run, but I am proud of how we fought back throughout the second half. Towards the end of the game, we had a few guys in foul trouble and Murray State was able to rotate guys in and that made a difference. Our group left everything out on the floor tonight and played for one another.”
Murray State hit its first three shots to take a 6-2 advantage. AJ Casey had a nice start for the Purple Aces scoring his team’s opening seven tallies as MSU held an 8-7 edge just over two minutes in. Bryce Quinet’s 3-point play put Evansville in front for the first time at 10-8 as UE would lead throughout the middle portion of the half.
Trent Hundley’s layup solidified a 14-11 edge at the 12:25 mark before two Quinet free throws with 8:17 left in the period gave UE its largest lead of the half at 20-16. Evansville’s defense held the Racers to 2-for-10 over the stretch as UE wrestled away the two-possession advantage.
The Racers stormed back with nine in a row to retake a 25-20 lead entering the final six minutes of the period, however, the Aces answered ones again when James Dyson-Merwe tied the game at 30-30 with 2:50 remaining until the break. Murray State regained control in the final moments, outscoring UE by a 12-0 margin to take a 42-30 lead into halftime. MSU drained their final four shots, including a pair of triples, to take the double-digit advantage.
Josh Hughes and Casey posted the first two field goals of the second half to quickly cut the deficit to eight. With MSU up 45-35, UE got even closer when Dyson-Merwe and Quinet converted back-to-back buckets to make it a 45-39 game inside of the 17-minute mark. Following a Racer score, the Aces continued to fight back with AJ Casey doing the damage. Six in a row by the senior got his squad all the way back within two points (47-45) with 14:56 on the clock. Casey’s efforts capped a 15-5 start to the stanza by the Purple Aces.
Holding onto a 49-47 edge, Murray State slowly added to its lead with a pair of free throws at the 10:30 mark that pushed the lead to 58-51. The Aces refused to give in and continued to claw their way back. Six in a row over the next 1:16 made it a 1-point game. Alex Hemenway got things rolling with a jumper while Kaia Berridge found Hughes for the alley-oop before Quinet completed the stretch with a layup.
UE remained within a possession over the next two minutes before the Racers slowly took control. A triple by JJ Traynor pushed the lead back to seven (68-61) with 6:37 left before a jumper gave MSU a 74-63 edge as the game entered its final three minutes. In total, the Racers outscored UE by a 16-4 margin to take their largest lead of 14 points as they turned a 63-61 lead into a 79-65 advantage. They held UE to 2-of-9 from the field while forcing a pair of turnovers.
A pair of late baskets closed the gap in the final moments as the Racers finished the night with a 79-69 victory. Evansville shot a season-high 50.9% while holding the Racers to 45.8%. The Racers connected on seven triples while UE was 1-for-12 from long distance. MSU also finished with a 36-32 rebounding advantage.
On Saturday, the Aces travel to Indiana State for a 12 p.m. CST game against the Sycamores inside the Hulman Center.
BURTON ANNOUNCES WORKING HOOSIERS AGENDA
INDIANAPOLIS – Yesterday, Jan. 5, State Rep. Alex Burton (D-Evansville) unveiled the House Democrats’ 2026 Working Hoosiers Agenda. The agenda centers on bringing down the cost of living and prioritizes measures to build an Indiana where Hoosiers can get ahead rather than get by.
Those measures include bringing utility costs down; lowering health care costs and protecting Hoosiers from medical debt; helping Hoosiers buy their first home through housing reform; delivering accessible, affordable and safe child care to working families; and keeping Indiana safe for all Hoosiers.
Burton issued the following statement in support of the Working Hoosiers Agenda:
“Hoosiers are working hard, but for too many households the cost of living keeps climbing faster than earned wages. The Working Hoosiers Agenda is about putting people first by stabilizing and lowering monthly costs, protecting families from medical debt, helping first-time homeowners, supporting working parents, ensure child care affordability and making sure every Hoosier is safe in their neighborhood. This is a practical, people-focused agenda that prioritize working families, while advocating for policies that position a real shot at getting ahead.”
See the full Working Hoosiers Agenda below:
Priority 1: Provide immediate financial relief on utility bills
- Eliminate the sales tax on residential utility use
- Protect Hoosiers from being overcharged by limiting excessive utility company profit margins
- Pause skyrocketing rate hikes
- Get big utilities out of politics by ending the appointment of political cronies to consumer watchdog positions and banning spending on political contributions and gifts
Priority 2: Keep Hoosiers healthy through affordable health coverage and guardrails on medical debt
- Cap insurance premiums
- Implement a state health exchange
- Stop medical debt from impacting credit scores
Priority 3: Create generational wealth by empowering more Hoosier homeowners
- Help Hoosiers save for their first home by creating tax-free savings accounts for home purchases
- Establish a first-time homebuyer grant program funded by a tax on investor-owned properties
- Institute a property tax credit to deliver real and immediate relief for homeowners
Priority 4: Deliver accessible, affordable and safe childcare for working families
- Create a public-private partnership program to split childcare costs between employers, the state of Indiana and parents
- Save families money through a childcare tax credit
- Fully fund Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) vouchers to keep daycare centers open and parents at work
Priority 5: Keep Hoosiers safe in their homes and neighborhoods
- Fund the police, fire, and EMS by taking Senate Enrolled Act 1 back to the drawing board and inviting more public input
- Keep violent offenders off the streets
- Deter violent crimes against law enforcement officers through sentencing enhancements
Indiana lawmakers consider anti-doxing bill following redistricting bomb, swatting threats
Indiana lawmakers hope to crack down on doxing after more than a dozen of their own became victims of threats amid a turbulent but unsuccessful redistricting campaign.
Doxing is the public release of someone’s personal information, without their consent, as a threat.
Senate Bill 140 would make that a Class A misdemeanor, or a felony if the doxing results in serious injury or death.
“Basically it’s what Sen. (Spencer) Deery and Sen. (Greg) Goode and Sen. (Jean) Leising and several others over the redistricting … experienced,” said bill author Sen. Vaneta Becker, R-Evansville, told the Senate’s Corrections and Criminal Law committee Tuesday.
Targeted lawmakers included those for and against President Donald Trump’s failed push to eliminate Indiana’s two Democratic congressional seats in favor of a 9-0 Republican delegation, ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
The Indiana Senate voted the maps down mid-December, after months of intense pressure and weeks of threats.
Those included swatting attempts at lawmakers’ homes — hoax reports to emergency services intended to trigger armed responses — plus bomb threatsand more.
“I was threatened to have my family killed in front of me, whereafter I would be killed,” redistricting bill author Rep. Ben Smaltz, R-Auburn, revealed mid-meeting last month.
Indiana State Police are leading an ongoing investigation into the intimidation against lawmakers.
While Tuesday’s discussion centered on lawmakers impacted during redistricting, everyday Americans are increasingly seeing their personal information spread across social media as retaliation for a wide range of disagreements.
Becker’s legislation would criminalize intentionally posting the personal information of a targeted person — or close connections — as a threat, in retaliation for something legal the targeted person did.
Personal information would include someone’s Social Security number, address or phone number, along with the name or address of their employer or places they frequent.
The definition for threat pulls from the state’s intimidation statute. Posts to social media would count, as would emails and other forms of electronic communication.
Tweaks to some of the bill’s definitions are expected.
Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne, said the bill’s definition of a “closely connected” person was too vague. It would include the target’s spouse, sibling, child, parent and grandparent, but also an unrelated person living in the same household, a dating partner or a coworker.
Committee Chair Aaron Freeman, R-Indianapolis, assured her he would clarify the “broad” language in an amendment on Friday, before a vote on the bill.
“There’s a lot of benefit to people that disagree getting together and talking about it, and we do that all the time,” Freeman said later.
“How anybody is 45 years old, living in their mother’s basement and never having a relationship with anybody, and getting on a computer and doing this stuff? ” Freeman said. “… My God, can we be adults about this?”
He especially bemoaned the targeting of families with children.
The Class A misdemeanor created in Becker’s bill could rise to a Level 6 felony if a post results in serious bodily injury, or a Level 5 felony if it results in catastrophic injury or death.
Included are protections for those who make reports to law enforcement, prosecutors, and the Department of Child Services “reasonably and in good faith.”
The bill additionally appears to protect constituent communication and organizing, protecting those who engage in “lawful and constitutionally protected activity as it pertains to speech, assembly, and petition.”
Rep. O’Brien authors legislation to strengthen critical EMS services
STATEHOUSE (Jan. 6, 2026) – A bill authored by State Rep. Tim O’Brien (R-Evansville) would classify emergency medical services as essential under Indiana law.
House Bill 1251 would formally recognize EMS as an essential public service, similar to police and fire departments. O’Brien said this classification emphasizes the importance of EMS first responders and the need to address shortages in areas that are currently underserved by emergency ambulance services.
“Emergency medical services, including ambulance services, play a vital role in safeguarding public health, safety and welfare,” O’Brien said. “In too many areas, especially rural communities, people worry about whether an ambulance will arrive quickly when they call 911. This bill is about recognizing EMS as essential and making sure counties are identifying areas in need and covering those lapses.”
O’Brien authored a law in 2024 to have the Indiana Department of Homeland Security conduct a comprehensive overview of EMS services across the state. The report found significant gaps in EMS staffing levels across districts, notable variation in basic and advanced life support services across counties, including no coverage in some townships, and difficulty recruiting and retaining EMS workers in certain areas.
O’Brien said his bill would also have county commissioners identify underserved areas and contract with providers to establish EMS services.
House Bill 1251 was referred to the House Veterans Affairs and Public Safety Committee for consideration. To learn more about the bill and follow session, visit iga.in.gov.
Attorney General Todd Rokita and team once again beat the hell out of Satanic Temple’s efforts to undermine Indiana’s commonsense pro-life law
A bigger whooping than when the devil went down to Georgia
Attorney General Todd Rokita and his legal team today celebrated a major victory for life after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit unanimously affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by the Satanic Temple challenging Indiana’s landmark 2022 pro-life law.
The federal appeals court ruled that the Satanic Temple lacked standing to bring its claims, meaning it failed to show any real injury to itself or its members from Indiana’s prohibitions on telehealth abortions and related criminal penalties. This decision upholds the lower court’s ruling and reinforces Indiana’s strong protections for unborn life.
“This lawsuit was ridiculous from the start, but this unanimous court decision is a critical victory because it continues to uphold our pro-life law that is constitutionally and legally rock-solid,” Attorney General Todd Rokita said. “Our state has proudly built a strong culture of life, and no satanic cult—or any extremist group—is going to stop us.”
The case stemmed from the Satanic Temple’s attempt to operate a telehealth abortion clinic in Indiana, claiming its “Satanic Abortion Ritual” entitled it to exemptions under the U.S. Constitution and Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The Seventh Circuit rejected the lawsuit on jurisdictional grounds, declining to reach the merits.
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v. Wade in the 2022 Dobbs case, Indiana was the first state in the nation to enact a sweeping pro-life law.
Attorney General Rokita thanked his team for their work on this case, mentioning in particular the strong efforts of Solicitor General James Barta and former Deputy Solicitor General Jenna Lorence—who, since successfully arguing this appeal, was appointed Alaska’s Solicitor General.
“We’re proud to have secured another win that keeps Indiana’s pro-life law firmly in place,” Solicitor General James Barta said. “This unanimous ruling is a major step forward for protecting unborn life, and we’re grateful to stand with Hoosier families in defending these essential safeguards.”
Attorney General Rokita has consistently defended Indiana’s commonsense pro-life laws against multiple challenges, securing victories that protect women and unborn children across the state.