WEEKLY DEATH REPORT NOV 10 TO NOV 16, 2025

Indiana high school seniors and college students planning to pursue a career in teaching can now apply for a Next Generation Hoosier Educators Scholarship, according to Vanderburgh County legislators.

State Rep. Tim O’Brien (R-Evansville) said this renewable scholarship, established in 2016 through legislation passed by the Indiana General Assembly, pays $10,000 per year for up to four academic years for students who commit to teaching in Indiana for at least five years.

“These scholarships are direct investments in our teachers, students and communities,” O’Brien said. “Anyone who wants to pursue a career in education should consider applying.”

State Rep. Matt Hostettler (R-Patoka) said scholarships will be awarded to high school and college students who have graduated or will graduate from an Indiana accredited high school or non-accredited nonpublic high school. Applicants must also rank in the top 20% of their high school graduating class, have a top 20% ACT or SAT score, or have a cumulative grade point average of at least a 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.

“Indiana’s continued educational strength relies on having great teachers leading our classrooms,” Hostettler said. “Future generations will benefit from having the best and brightest teachers right here in Indiana.”

State Rep. Wendy McNamara (R-Evansville) said the 2026-2027 application is available online atscholartrack.che.in.gov through Jan. 31. Applicants will be notified of their scholarship status by April 2026. For questions, email the Indiana Commission for Higher Education at NextTeacher@che.in.gov.

“It is hard to overstate the role teachers play in students’ development and progress, so we should want the best educators working in our state,” McNamara said. “The Next Generation Hoosier Educators Scholarship helps fulfill this need by providing funding for prospective teachers’ education while ensuring our state retains top talent.”

In 2023, the legislature passed a law that increased the scholarship award amount from $7,500 to $10,000 and removed the annual 200-recipient cap. Last year, more than a thousand students applied for the scholarship, a new record, with nearly 300 scholarships awarded.

To learn more about the Next Generation Hoosier Educators Scholarship, visit in.gov/che.

GAVEL GAMUT

By Jim Redwine

www.jamesmredwine.com

(Week of 15 December 2025)

TIME IS ON OUR SIDE

Over the two or three hundred thousand years we homo sapiens have created and destroyed countless cultures there has been a recurring philosophical debate over whether time is linear or circular. Do things occur once or do events repeat themselves? Is life finite or eternal? Will we find life after life has always been the great mystery. Most people are hesitant to test their hypothesis whichever they believe, hope or dread. Also, most of us who puzzle over the conundrum of time, who are most of us, agree with Viking Cruise Line Chairman Torstein Hagan who says, “Time is the only truly scarce commodity, so spend it wisely”.

Of course, whether we are investing our time or squandering it is about as difficult for us to determine as The College Football Playoff Selection Committee found the choices of which teams should be one of the twelve chosen to vie for the national championship. But one choice was as non-controversial as history made it absolutely phenomenal: THE Indiana University is not only IN, it is at the top of the class!

I attended my first class at IU in the autumn of 1963 when the United States Air Force sent me there for foreign language training. That was my introduction to IU’s reputation as the doormat of college football. By the time I had completed my law degree in Bloomington in 1970 I fully understood. Each year began with hope and ended with despair. We almost always found a new way to snatch defeat from the jaws of a narrow victory. Regardless, Peg and I fell victim to each ray of hope engendered by the rare bright spots such as the 1967-68 Rose Bowl; we lost. She and I were born too late to celebrate the 1945 championship season; well ok, Peg wasn’t even born yet.

As you can tell, Gentle Reader, in the 130 years of IU football the field has remained quite barren. Yet, Peg and I always donned our cream and crimson along with our rose-colored glasses. We just knew if we lived long enough time would reward us. It only took from 1963 to 2024-25. Now, what are we to believe about eternity, if there is such a thing?

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