Hermster is a 4-year-old female white cat with beautiful green eyes! She was surrendered for not liking the other pets in the home. She is litterbox-trained. Her adoption fee is $40 and includes her spay, microchip, vaccines, and more. Contact Vanderburgh Humane at (812) 426-2563 oradoptions@vhslifesaver.org for details!
Aces playing in Rosemont, Ill.
The season is here for the University of Evansville softball team with the Purple Aces traveling to the Chicago area for the Total Control Sports Invitational. The Dome at Rosemont, Ill. will be the host with each game being indoors.
UE opens the season against Miami Ohio at 12:30 p.m. on Friday before completing the day with a 5:30 p.m. contest versus Butler. Saturday pits the Aces against Western Illinois at 10 a.m. and IUPUI at 3 p.m. before the weekend will be completed with a 10 a.m. matchup versus Green Bay. Live stats will not be available this weekend, but follow @UEAthletics_SB for in-game updates as well as GoPurpleAces.com for recaps and stats after each game.
“We are excited to be able to go up to Chicago as we have several players from Illinois on our roster. We know that we will get the games in, which is a benefit of playing in a dome,†Aces head coach Mat Mundell said. “There is some really good competition this weekend. We open with Miami Ohio who won MAC regular season last year. We’ll face a good Butler team that we played twice last season. WIU, IUPUI and Green Bay each have really good mid-major talent that will challenge us to open the season. Looking forward to seeing what these girls can do when we put them together on the field.â€
Leading the Aces returners is junior Eryn Gould, who was UE’s top hitter last year, finishing at .306 with team highs in home runs (10), RBI (31), runs (30), hits (41) and walks (35). She earned her second nod on the All-Missouri Valley Conference First Team.
In her debut season in 2019, Katie McLean batted .305 and recorded 34 walks while reaching base 45.4% of the time. Just behind that duo were Allison Daggett and Mea Adams, who finished the year hitting .260 and .257, respectively.
Emily Lockhart was UE’s top pitcher last season and returns for her final season. She won nine contests while throwing 10 complete games. She notched a 4.03 ERA. As a freshman in 2019, Izzy Vetter picked up nine victories and led the way with 106 strikeouts.
Miami Ohio is the first opponent for UE and finished last year with a 35-16 record. Their 16-4 finish in the Mid-American Conference gave them the regular season title. Butler won 16 games last year, but is a squad the Aces are familiar with. They squared off twice last season including a game in last year’s Total Control Sports Invitational and a contest at Cooper Stadium with the Bulldogs winning both times.
Western Illinois had an even 20-20 mark a season ago, but excelled in Summit League action, going 12-6. IUPUI won 18 games in 2019 while Green Bay finished with 12.
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–University of Southern Indiana Softball will have to wait another week before playing its first games of the 2020 season as the forecast of snow and cold weather in the Harrogate, Tennessee, area has forced Lincoln Memorial University to cancel its scheduled season-opener against the Screaming Eagles Friday.
USI turns its attention to The Cottrell Foundation Loyal Blue Classic, which is February 14-16 in Dahlonega, Georgia. The Screaming Eagles are slated to take on No. 16 and host University of North Georgia February 15 in a rematch from their 2018 NCAA II Softball Championship first-round game that saw USI pull off a 1-0 upset over the then No. 1-ranked Nighthawks.
In addition to North Georgia, the Eagles also take on No. 8 West Chester University February 15 and February 16.
Aces Fall By A 64-60 Final At The Ford Center
Trailing by four points inside the final 30 seconds of regulation, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team fought back to send the game to overtime, but a late rally by Southern Illinois in the extra session helped them finish with a 64-60 victory on Wednesday inside the Ford Center.
K.J. Riley had a great all-around game for the Purple Aces (9-15, 0-11 MVC), posting 24 points on 7-of-13 shooting and a 10-for-11 showing from the free-throw line. He added seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Sam Cunliffe tallied 15 points while Jawaun Newton hit a pair of triples on his way to 10 points. Newton did not reach double figures in his first 48 games at UE but has hit the mark in two of the last four games. Evan Kuhlman continued to evolve and had perhaps his best game with the program, posting seven blocks, six rebounds, five points, four steals, and three assists.
“It was a well-played basketball team. I cannot fault our guys at all, they executed, moved the basketball and did everything we asked,†Evansville head coach Todd Lickliter said. “We have not gotten the results that we have wanted, but we will not change our approach. We will keep working at it and getting better.â€
Both defenses were strong in the first half, leading to a 24-22 score in favor of the Salukis (14-10, 8-3 MVC) at halftime. Evansville recorded the first six points of the night with Sam Cunliffe and Evan Kuhlman hitting 3-pointers to open the scoring. Southern Illinois hit one of their first six field-goal tries as they trailed by an 8-2 tally.
Their offense would turn around as a 7-0 stretch saw them take their first lead of the game at 12-10 just past the halfway point of the opening period. A drive to the basket by Artur Labinowicz was followed up by a Cunliffe free throw that put the Aces back on top – 13-12.
Another run by the Salukis pushed their advantage to a game-high seven points – 24-17 – with three minutes remaining in the half. UE pushed back in the final moments – holding the Salukis off the scoreboard while Cunliffe’s second 3-pointer, coupled with a Jawaun Newton layup, cut the SIU lead to 24-22. Cunliffe led all players with 11 points in the half.
After the Salukis scored the first four points of the second half, the Aces countered when Cunliffe dunked on a runout and K.J. Riley followed with a pair of free throws to get his team back within a pair. On the defensive side, Evan Kuhlman put on a clinic. He had two blocks in the first half and added four more in the opening three minutes of the second.
Southern Illinois took its largest lead at 37-28 with 14 minutes on the clock before the Aces would rally. Jawaun Newton got it started with a triple before Riley reeled off five in a row to get the Aces back within a possession – 39-36. With 9:40 left, Noah Frederking got his team even closer with a jumper that made it a 41-40 game in favor of the Salukis.
Still up by one, SIU scored six points in a row to go back up by seven points of the 7-minute mark. The feisty Aces crew countered once again and battled SIU down to the wire. With 3:48 remaining, a basket by Riley cut the deficit to 49-46. Riley added a pair of free throws with 47 ticks on the clock that made it a 52-50 deficit. After an SIU bucket pushed the lead to four with 28 ticks remaining, the Aces made one final rally with Riley doing it all. The senior drew a foul and converted both free throws to get his team within a pair. On the defensive side, he forced a turnover and took the ball back down the floor. His putback in the final seconds sent the game to overtime tied up at 54-54.
UE got the scoring started with another Cunliffe basket in the first minute. Two lead changes led to a 60-59 Aces lead as the final minute began. The tide turned when a Lance Jones bucket put the Salukis in front for good. His field goal gave SIU a 61-60 lead and following a UE miss, he drained three free throws in the final 19 seconds to clinch the win.
Marcus Domask was SIU’s top scorer with 22 points while Jones scored 15 and Barret Benson registered 14. He led the Salukis with 10 boards. SIU finished with a 44-36 rebounding edge and outshot the Aces by a 40.3%-36.1% margin.
A nationally televised contest is up next when the Aces head to Peoria, Ill. on Sunday to face Bradley. The CBS Sports Network will have coverage of the 1 p.m. game at Carver Arena.
We hope that today’s “IS IT TRUEâ€Â will provoke honest and open dialogue concerning issues that we, as responsible citizens of this community, need to address in a rational and responsible way?
IS IT TRUE that local Chairman of the Vanderburgh County Republican party Wayne Parke is becoming known as the “Let’s Make A Deal Monty Hall” of local politics?
TheStatehouseFile.com
INDIANAPOLIS- Indiana’s lawmakers have reached half-time of this year’s session, with major bills to keep motorist’s hands off their phones and to raise the age to use tobacco still alive; the effort to raise teacher pay now effectively dead and a bill to help pregnant employees essentially put off until at least next year.
Senate Bill 342, which would have made most businesses provide “reasonable accommodations†for pregnant workers and new moms who are pumping breast milk, was gutted by the Senate on Monday. The bill now urges legislative leaders to send this issue to an interim study committee, with no guarantee that the issue will ever be heard by a committee.
SB 342, authored by Sen. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette, originally would have made most businesses provide “reasonable†accommodations for pregnant workers.
Alting told his colleagues that Indiana ranks seventh in the nation on maternal mortality rate, and third in the nation on infant mortality rate.
“Research has demonstrated that the working conditions affect premature births,â€Â he said.
The amendment reducing the measure to a request for a study committee, authored by Sen. Andy Zay, R-Huntington, passed 34-15, with Zay and other Republicans saying more study is needed to understand the bill’s impact on small businesses. Tuesday, Alting urged his colleagues to keep the bill, and the issue, alive despite his disagreement with the change.
It passed, 41-8 – with all Democrats except Sen. Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago – voting ‘no’ to register their disappointment that help for pregnant workers was being delayed.
Sen. J.D. Ford, D-Indianapolis, said pregnant women don’t need to study this issue, they live with it every day.
“The original bill had wide bipartisan support, was a priority of the governor’s and received overwhelmingly positive testimony from Hoosiers,†he reiterated in a statement after the vote. “This legislation could have gone a long way toward helping lower Indiana’s abysmally high infant mortality rateâ€
Sen. Jean Breaux, D-Indianapolis, called the bill “pro-life.â€
“Economic pressure is a significant factor in women choosing abortion, and protecting a working mother protects the unborn child and reduces the pressure for abortion,†she said. “Women should not have to choose economic stability over the health of she and her baby.â€
Senate Minority Leader Tim Lanane, D-Anderson, singled out SB 342 in a news conference assessing the first half of the session with House Minority Leader Phil GiaQuinta, D-Fort Wayne.
“It’s a simple question: should we allow discrimination in the workplace against pregnant women or not?â€Â Lanane said.
With only five weeks in the session left, Lanane said there nonetheless is still hope from Democrats that the issue identified as a goal by Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican, will become resurrected this session.
“We’re more than willing to show the other side of the aisle how we can do these things, how we can do them responsibly and how we can do them this session,†Lanane said.
In other legislation, one bill has already flown through the House and Senate and been signed into law by Holcomb.
House Bill 1007, signed into law Jan. 29, allocates $300 million, a portion of which is from an unexpected surplus, to pay cash for six university construction projects, rather than borrow for them through bonding.
Democrats were repeatedly rebuffed in their attempts to change the bill to instead allocate those funds to give teachers a pay boost this year, instead of putting off any potential pay hike to next year’s budget-writing session as preferred by Holcomb and the GOP.
The measure – SB 299, authored by Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne — also mandates women to be informed they can collect the products of a pill-induced abortion, which typically are expelled at home in a toilet or bathtub, and return them to the abortion provider for burial or cremation.
Breaux, who opposed the bill, said it needs more clarification regarding safety and cleanliness for the women bringing their own fetal remains to a facility after an at-home abortion. She read to her Senate colleagues a letter from a constituent about the trauma she suffered after needing an abortion after an incomplete miscarriage and her concern that this bill would add to the distress.
The bill, approved 40-9, now goes to the House.
Also moving through the process are House Bill 1006, the tobacco and vaping products bill, and HB 1414, the bill affecting coal plant closures.
HB 1006 follows the federal government’s lead in raising the age to buy tobacco and vaping products to 21 from the current 18, and sets in place provisions on how to prosecute retailers who violate that age restriction. It passed the House 84-14 and is headed to the Senate.
House Bill 1414 would require the state’s utilities to notify the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission if they plan to close an energy-producing plant. Its author, Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, has said it is needed to slow the closing of the state’s coal-fired power plants to ensure no disruption of electricity. The bill was amended in the House to have it expire in May 2021 and to require the IURC to only review closure plans, rather than approve or reject them.
House Bill 1070, also heading to the Senate, would prevent drivers from using phones while driving, unless it is used alongside a hands-free device, or to call 911 in an emergency. The measure, authored by Rep. Holli Sullivan, R-Evansville, passed the House 86-10.
Among the casualties of the first half of the session is House Bill 1331, authored by Rep. Martin Carbaugh, R-Fort Wayne, which would have prevented ticket sellers from barring the purchaser from reselling or transferring the tickets. It passed out of committee but was never heard in the full House.
FOOTNOTE: Victoria Ratliff is a reporter with TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.
