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Evansville Courier And Press Is Part Of The Gannett-GateHouse Merger

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The Gannett-GateHouse Merger Is Really Happening, And Expect To See More Than 10% Of Jobs Cut Off The Top

 About: Gannett Co., Inc. (GCI), NEWM

Expect the new Gannett – the brand that will survive that chain’s acquisition by GateHouse Media – to officially take wobbly flight soon, perhaps around Thanksgiving.

Independent financial analysts tell me that their data-driven analysis shows a 90-percent-plus chance the merger completes.

The deal has already gotten the blessing of the Department of Justice’s antitrust division; that approval flashes a very green light to all the other newspaper chains eyeing various mergers and recombinations.

The megamerger is really happening. Expect the new Gannett (NYSE:GCI) – the brand that will survive that chain’s acquisition by GateHouse Media (NYSE:NEWM) – to officially take wobbly flight soon, perhaps around Thanksgiving.

Both companies, the country’s No. 1 and No. 2 newspaper publishers, say it’s full speed ahead. Independent financial analysts tell me that their data-driven analysis shows a 90-percent-plus chance the merger completes. The deal has already gotten the blessing of the Department of Justice’s antitrust division; that approval flashes a very green light to all the other newspaper chains eyeing various mergers and recombinations.

First Published At Harvard’s Nieman Journalism Lab On Oct. 9, 2019

So by New Year’s Day 2020, all the companies’ news products across 265 markets will move under one giant umbrella. Never before in U.S. history have we seen a single company own and manage so much of the American newspaper business – about one of every six dailies. (Both companies are declining comment on the merger’s details at this juncture.)

In other words, it’s been a boffo opening season of The Consolidation Games, the newspaper-industry drama that’s played out in corporate offices, bank meeting rooms, and the stock market since the beginning of 2019 – and which is certain to be picked up for a second series in 2020. Readers, advertisers, and journalists will feel the reverberations of the Gannett-GateHouse merger for years to come:

  • Expect aggressive early moves to begin achieving the $300 million in cost-cutting synergies the dealmakers have claimed to justify the deal.
  • More than 10 percent of the chains’ combined workforce – about 25,000 in the United States – will likely get the dreaded call from HR that their services will no longer be needed. How big a cut will that be? If the headcount reduction reaches 3,000 – which would be 12 percent of the workforce – that’s the equivalent of McClatchy’s entire employee count. And McClatchy will be the second-largest newspaper chain in America after this merger is complete. New Gannett CEO Mike Reed has emphasized that the coming cuts will come almost entirely outside the newsrooms. Business-side functions – from advertising to production to finance to circulation – will take the brunt of the cuts. Most of the headcount cuts will come in the merged company’s first year, but some will bleed into the Year 2020.
  • Fundamental to those cuts is the adoption of single, uniform systems across the enterprise. Think back to the year-plus of pain that one paper, the Los Angeles Times, went through to untangle itself from Tribune/Tronc’s centralized tech platforms. Now think of how time- and money-consuming it will be to do that across those 265 markets, and you get a sense of the multiyear synergy headache upcoming. Gannett and GateHouse each have largely centralized their newsroom tech stacks, with each relying largely on a singular content management system. Those will merge onto one CMS. Merging the companies’ much-touted digital marketing services businesses shouldn’t be particularly difficult, several sources tell me. But in most other business functions, a truly motley array of systems still abound. Worse yet, few are cloud-based and run centrally, meaning that even papers using the same software for the same functions are often using different locally installed versions of it.

The Calendar Ahead

The date to circle on your Consolidation Games calendar is November 14.2019. That’s the day both Gannett and GateHouse shareholders are scheduled to vote on the deal.

GateHouse’s NEWM stock got clobbered soon after the merger announcement, GateHouse down 33 percent over the next three trading sessions. It’s recovered some, but it’s still down 32 percent from the start of 2019. No one is wowed by this deal. It is a marriage of the possible, two partners without many other prospects. Given the ongoing pace of deterioration in newspapers’ operating numbers, that’s the best face even the dealmakers can put on it.

That’s also the pitch to shareholders: You’ll make more money with New Gannett than with either the old Gannett and old GateHouse. Or to put it in the financial speak of the roadshows conducted by the principals to reassure anxious investors: “Nobody has a better path to create value.” That’s shareholder value, of course.

These are two struggling companies seeking short-term salvation – enough oxygen to get a few more years down the road. Taking a $300 million whack at all the “redundancies” in day-to-day operations seems a better choice than going it alone. Sure, it’ll cost $100 million or so to cut all those jobs and rationalize all that tech – most of it in severance. But that’s far preferable, both Gannett and GateHouse believe than a thousand smaller cuts, atop the thousands both have already made.

Will shareholders buy that argument? The share prices say yes. While there have been several shareholder lawsuits, they look like the sort of attorney-cash-ins common in these kinds of mergers. Experienced financial observers tell me they shouldn’t hold up the deal.

Both Gannett and GateHouse shareholders will get the usual independent advice. Most likely before Halloween, the two major shareholder advisory companies will weigh in with their recommendations on how shareholders should look at the transaction.

ISS and Glass Lewis are now assessing the deal, though they haven’t yet approached the principals with questions. Their recommendations can be somewhat unpredictable; recall the odd call in May to put one of Alden Global Capital’s slate on the Gannett board, a bizarre ISS recommendation during Alden’s failed acquisition try. But both are likely to see the deal logic and say, at some length and in finance-speak, “Uh…okay.”

The companies can close the transaction within just a few days of shareholder approval. Expect that to happen in November, just before or after Thanksgiving.

That’s also when we’ll see the shape of the New Gannett’s new exec team. We know that Paul Bascobert, announced as CEO by (Old) Gannett at the time of the merger announcement has been touring the company’s offices. He touts the value of the deal and the company to come, while of course spending lots of time reassuring workers who see the ax hanging overhead. At the same time, Bascobert is doing his own assessment. Together with Reed, Bascobert’s first order of business will be a profound reorganization of the company.

A new slimmer structure – much more GateHouse-thin than Gannett-like – is on the way. Streamlining is the name of the game. Heads will roll, though a few of the highly placed Gannett ones will be attached smartly to golden parachutes. Gannett CFO Alison Engel will join Bascobert’s operating team, but the guessing game is on at both companies as to which other execs will ascend – and which won’t. The biggest question: the fate of current GateHouse (operating) CEO Kirk Davis, Mike Reed’s long-time business partner in building the company.

The New Company’s Priorities

All eyes will be on the New Gannett, but it’s tough to say what anyone will actually see.

CEO Mike Reed says he intends to maintain the cohort of journalists now working in both companies. Still, expect some cuts, likely small, in areas like statehouse coverage or regional/statewide sports, due to new regional clustering caused when nearby papers become New Gannett siblings. We can watch whether the company reinvests such resources in the enterprise/investigative teams both companies have built and publicly promoted.

But will there be any new investment? In the product? In the newsrooms? That’s one of the big questions here. The marketplace has not rewarded either company’s products; revenues keep sliding, and subscriptions – print or digital – haven’t nearly filled the gap caused by the great print ad decline.

But the financials in this deal cry out: Repay the debt first.

As I’ve reported, Apollo Global Management may have been the only financier ready to put in the $1.8 billion it took to put this deal together. And in doing so, Apollo was able to demand an 11.5 percent interest rate – an indication of both the risk in the deal and the cold shoulder other financiers gave it.

The impact: On Day 1, the New Gannett will have a mountain of debt to pay off. And the language of the loan allows it to repay it faster than its five-year term without penalty. The faster New Gannett pays off the debt, the less interest it pays, just like any working stiff with a credit card bill. The incentives to make debt payments Priority 1 are clear.

But! Also, consider that New Gannett is also promising its shareholders lots of earnings. In its filed financials, the company has painted a rather rosy picture of how it will improve those earnings – despite continuing deep ad decline and the threat of a recession that would likely further pressure revenue.

After they feed debt repayment and earnings, Reed and Bascobert will get to decide where to invest in their new company. How much will they have to work with?

The magic words here are “excess cash flow” – that’s the money the new company will have after it meets its basic obligations. If Reed’s projections will bear out, then perhaps substantial investments can be made. The history of the last few years, though, says there are significant odds against the company having enough cash to transform the business for the next decade – even if there is a strategic vision in place for how to spend it.

Mix-And-Match

So where does this outsized deal leave the prospects for other mergers and acquisitions?

Everyone I’ve spoken with close to that question says to expect very little to happen between now and the end of the year.

Looking into 2020, it’s noteworthy how relatively quickly this megamerger got the DOJ green light. The department’s antitrusters could have decried the big regional domination the New Gannett will have in states like Ohio and Florida. (Both pretty important places politically.) But they didn’t.

These same regulators had objected to what was then Tronc’s attempts to buy, separately, the Orange County Register in 2016 and the Chicago Sun-Times in 2017. In each case, DOJ didn’t want one company to own two big properties in a single market (alongside Tronc’s L.A. Times and Chicago Tribune).

In Gannett-GateHouse, there is no single city that hosts papers from each company. (There aren’t that many two-paper markets left, after all.) The clusters this merger will create are more regional. So the DOJ’s Tronc-era standard didn’t apply.

(In Florida, New Gannett will own dailies in Jacksonville, West Palm Beach, Sarasota, St. Augustine, Naples, Brevard County, Fort Myers, Pensacola, Tallahassee, Gainesville, Lakeland, Daytona Beach, Ocala, Winter Haven, Panama City, the Treasure Coast, the Space Coast, and more. In Ohio, it will own Columbus, Cincinnati, Akron, Canton, and more – three of the state’s four largest papers by weekday circulation.)

The pitch to regulators by Gannett and GateHouse attorneys came down to one word: “duopoly.” As in the Duopoly, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), which dominate digital advertising at a scale multiples beyond what even the most mega of newspaper megamergers could dream of. They made the case that newspapers really can’t control ad pricing in any market, even if they owned clusters of papers adjacent to each other.

It appears DOJ bought that argument. If so, as the next waves of M&A conversations roll forth, would-be buyers and sellers believe they can remove the DOJ review concern (triggered by the Hart Scott Rodino Act) from the table.

(Of course, the DOJ isn’t exactly the same animal today as it was in previous administrations. Makan Delrahim is a former Trump White House deputy counsel who was confirmed as head of the antitrust division in September 2017. In an interview with The New York Times, he “emphasized that antitrust is intended to support free markets and that the government should intervene only when necessary. A monopoly is perfectly legal until it abuses its monopoly power, he said.”)

But it’ll take more than regulatory openness to get more mergers moving quickly. Every other newspaper company sees the same kind of cost-cutting synergies Gannett and GateHouse do. But they also learned a harder lesson from their tie-up: Deal financing, when it’s even possible, is really expensive. Apollo’s 11.5 percent rate is three or more points higher than the refinanced debt other companies such as McClatchy have negotiated recently. With tight cash flow and even tighter cash flow projections, every extra point of interest has a real impact – mostly in the accelerated cutting of jobs, including in newsrooms.

Right when Gannett and GateHouse shareholders are voting next month, each of the publicly-owned newspaper companies will be reporting its 3rd-quarter financials. There’s little evidence any of those will meaningfully revive the narrative of unending decline. When talk turns to M&A in 2020, the warts of all prospective mates will be in front of the mind.

Original Post

Editor’s Note: The summary bullets for this article were chosen by Seeking Alpha editors.

 

James Shanahan: Media Mergers Add To Gloomy Outlook For Democracy At Home

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James Shanahan: Media Mergers Add To Gloomy Outlook For Democracy At Home

Local newspapers have been in trouble for some time, with increasing concentration of ownership adding to the already dire prospects for advertising, subscription income and any other funding modes that might preserve locally reported and edited news.

For those who think democracy in our towns and cities depends on effective and professional communication at home, shakeouts of local news toward corporate ownership are depressing. Will we add the local paper to the list of casualties of digital degradation that made things worse, not better (such as vinyl records, printed books, celluloid film)? Undoubtedly so, at least for many people.
We certainly didn’t need last month’s announcement of the Gatehouse-Gannett merger to be apprehensive about the future.
Those with an inclination might keep their paper, but it seems less and less likely to be a local one. Those who find the digital news-reading experience infuriating, with its annoying pop-ups and electronic detritus interfering with what had been a pleasurable experience, can turn to national or regional papers. But of course, that local content will have gone elsewhere.
We’ve heard lots of stories in our school from the front lines. Pictures of deserted newsrooms, desks are strewn with the last front page a human worked on, papers so thin you can see through them. It’s hard to believe the layoffs that come with corporate ownership can fix any of this, but there might be no other choice.
Something will fill this vacuum. Some communities, such as our own, have fine public media and award-winning student media. Other towns might continue to have owners who stick with the business, focused as much on community service as on any economic motives.
Communities that don’t have these options will be riding the big yellow taxi (we don’t know what we got ’til it’s gone) toward less informed, misinformed, disinformed. It’s easy to imagine that such communities will eventually pay an invisible tax for the loss of their local news, as officials who had previously been held accountable by the local paper operate more freely and, eventually, corruptly.
We can hope digital and social media will replace some of these lost functions, although we now have enough experience with the new media to be skeptical on that count. The internet might still find a way to train and pay for local editors and reporters who are about to lose their jobs in a corporate merger, but it’s an open question as to how that could happen.
In our school, we are still educating people to do these jobs. When those students leave, they are given job titles we scarcely imagined a few years ago. But these digital natives are as aware as any one of the headwinds they face.
My thought has always been that someone in our school, probably a student, will find a way to address journalism’s economic crisis. If not, the current media climate will spin communities into the same polarized oppositions we are seeing at the national level. Cable news can’t fix these problems, certainly not in your town.
If we can dim that screen for a minute, let’s think together about how to preserve the kinds of journalism we would value and that still might have a fighting chance.

 

FOOTNOTES:  The City-County Observer posted this article without opinion, bias or editing.

Commentary: State Forestry Budget Critical To State’s Health

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By Jeff Stant and Ray Moistner
Special to TheStatehouseFile.com

For the last several decades, the Indiana Hardwood Lumbermen’s Association and the Indiana Forest Alliance have disagreed and at times clashed over issues involving the management of our state forests, but recent joint meetings have revealed one very important area on which we can both agree and have pledged to work on together to find a solution that benefits all Hoosiers and our state’s forest resources.

Retirements and resignations combined with extended delays in refilling positions due to budget constraints limit the ability of the Division of Forestry to service private landowners and effectively manage the growing Classified Forest & Wildlands Program.

Indiana prides itself on being compliant with standards developed within industries. Given the current staff shortages, our ability to be compliant with our Forest Stewardship Council requirements is currently at risk.

When fully staffed, the Classified Forest Management (CFM) Section has 20 district foresters and 2 assistant district foresters. The CFM Section currently has five vacancies and two positions that are reduced due to competing workloads within the division.

Over the past 15 years, the enrolled acreage in the Classified Forest and Wildlands Program has grown by 80%, from 450,000 acres to 825,000. This program has been an excellent incentive in keeping private forests intact and has allowed marginal ground to revert to forests. Consequently, our state’s forest base has tripled in less than a century and has served as a model for other states.

 

By contrast, the Division of Forestry’s budget has shrunk from $12.4 million in 2009 to $10.3 million in 2019 yet it is still tasked with serving this important program. In addition to all the other Division activities that have grown, the result is the Division of Forestry has to support 375,000 more acres with $2 million less funding than nine years ago.

The Classified Forest Program requires written forest management plans, and district foresters are essential to providing landowners the expertise required to understand and complete these plans. The result of the program is healthier, sustainable forests which provide over 99% of the timber that feeds the state’s largest agricultural industry – hardwoods. Proper forest management also provides many other benefits to Indiana, including mitigating the effects of a changing climate, clean water and air, flood and fire suppression and wildlife habitat. Additional benefits include disease and pest infestations and invasive species control, as well as enhanced quality of life and recreational opportunities.

Although our organizations may differ on priorities and management philosophies, our common concern is for the overall health and growth of our state’s precious and valuable public and private forest resources. Without at least the minimum level of sufficient assistance from our state’s forestry experts, private forestland owners will be unable to maintain this forest base, and we will see reductions in Indiana’s overall forest. These reductions will hurt the forest products industry, the outdoor recreation industry, and Indiana’s quality of place, all of which are critical to making Indiana a diverse and attractive option for our citizens and workforce. Additionally, these stretched resources strain the forestry division’s ability to effectively oversee our public forests.

As a state, we can no longer afford to ignore this crisis involving one of our most important natural resources. Our mutual organizations respectfully request that the Governor and the legislature work cooperatively to address this important budget shortfall. The economic benefits derived by both the forest products and recreation industries, as well as the general benefits to all Hoosiers of better-maintained public forests will more than compensate for the nominal cost of restoring the Indiana Division of Forestry to, at very least, its pre-2009 funding level.

FOOTNOTE: Jeff Stant is executive director of the Indiana Forest Alliance. Ray Moistner is executive director of the Indiana Hardwood Lumbermen’s Association.

2021 All-Star Game Will Lead To Children’s Projects Across Indiana

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By Brandon Barger

TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS–Communities around Indiana will be getting new basketball courts and other facilities as part of a million-dollar “Legacy Project” that is an off-shoot of the 2021 NBA All-Star Game, the first to be held in Indianapolis since 1958.

Rick Fuson, president, and chief operating officer for Pacers Sports & Entertainment, summed up the idea behind the program in one sentence:

“Not only do we grow basketball here, but we also grow the community here too.”

 

The initiative, funded by the All-Star Game host committee and its partners, will give grants of up to $50,000 to 21 youth-oriented non-profits that are focused on health and fitness or education. In addition to basketball courts, the capital improvement projects are expected to include playgrounds, reading areas and labs for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) programs.

Organizers will also award college scholarships to 21 seniors graduating in 2021 who live in the communities where the projects will be built. The selected youths – dubbed
“Rising Stars” — will serve as honorary chairs of the local projects and recruit other young people to participate in the build-up to the All-Star Game.

Fuson, Gov. Eric Holcomb, Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett and Tamika Catchings, vice president of Indiana Fever Basketball Operations, announced the program Tuesday in a press conference on the basketball court at the governor’s residence.

 

The program, Holcomb said, would be the “gift that keeps on giving” for the community long after the final whistle blows on the All-Star Game.

And while the game is held in Indianapolis, Catchings said the program will impact the state as a whole.

“We want all corners of our fine state to have a lasting memory and, more importantly, a legacy to befit our youth long after the All-Star Game,” Catchings said.

The program may also give a needed boost of positive publicity for the NBA, which has become embroiled this week in controversy after Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey tweeted out his support for the pro-democracy movements in Hong Kong. The now-deleted tweet sparked outrage in China, with many of the Chinese sponsors of the NBA have pulled out of deals.

Asked about the situation, Holcomb – who recently returned from a trade mission to China — said he tries to “stay on my own court.”

But, he added, “We will work our way through this.”

After the announcement, Holcomb, Catchings, Fever center Natalie Achonwa and Pacers legend Darnell “Dr. Dunk” Hillman played basketball with children from the Shepherd Community Center, with Holcomb even chasing down the balls when the kids missed.

The All-Star Game will be held on Feb. 14, 2021, with events happening in the days leading jup to the game. Nonprofits have until the end of this year to submit applications for the grants at http://pacers.com/all-star-legacy. Winners will be announced after the 2020 All-Star Game in Chicago.

Brandon Barger is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalists.

 

 

BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS MEETING

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BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS

REGULAR MEETING

KEVIN WINTERNHEIMER CHAMBERS

ROOM 301, CIVIC CENTER COMPLEX

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2019

12:00 NOON

 AGENDA

1.      CALL TO ORDER

2.      MEETING MEMORANDUM   OCTOBER 2, 2019

3.      CONSENT AGENDA                                                

              

  1. Request Re:  Approve and Execute Rental Agreement for Lloyd Pool with Memorial High

School.- Holtz

  1. Request Re: Approve and Execute Permanent Easement with Water and Sewer Utility at Kleymeyer Park.- Holtz
  2. Request Re: Approve and Execute payment for the Greenway Slide Remediation Project 

to Blankenberger Brothers, Inc. in the amount of $ 75,766.50.- Holtz

               

4.      OLD BUSINESS  

           

  1. Request Re: Project Bid Recommendations for Deaconess Aquatic Center. – Holtz

 

5.       NEW BUSINESS  

          

          a.    Request Re: Any Other Business the Board Wishes to Consider and Public Comments

6.        REPORTS

          

           a.   Brian Holtz- Executive Director

                      

7.        ACCEPTANCE OF PAYROLL AND VENDOR CLAIMS

 

8.        ADJOURN

UE Invites Community to Majors and Minors Fair on October 18

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U E

The University of Evansville will host a Majors and Minors Fair for high school students, families, guidance counselors, and others interested in exploring UE’s programs.

This free event will be held on Wednesday, October 18 from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. in Eykamp Hall within Ridgway University Center. Students and faculty members from UE’s 80+ majors will be on hand to talk about how each major or minor can help lead a student to reach individual goals for their ultimate career path.

Campus support teams will also be available to talk about various student services. Current UE students are also invited and encouraged to attend.

UE Opens Shanklin Theatre Season With The Classic Tale “The Three Musketeers”

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The University of Evansville Theatre proudly presents THE THREE MUSKETEERS, by Megan Monaghan Rivas, inspired by the novel of Alexandre Dumas. A bold, new version of this beloved classic tale is set in 17th-century France but reimagined in a world where men and women are equally empowered. In the true fashion of “musketeering,” these familiar characters engage in daring and romantic adventures with bravado, flamboyance, and valiant ideals. This theatrical re-telling mixes witty wordplay with swashbuckling sword fighting and fast-paced action culminating in a sensational story sure to leave audiences believing in the heroic motto, “One for all, and all for one!” This production opens Friday, Oct. 18, at 7:30 p.m., in the Shanklin Theatre. Additional performances are at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 19, 24, 25, 26 and at 2:00 p.m. on Oct. 20 and 27.

THE THREE MUSKETEERS is guest directed by Tlaloc Rivas. Department Chair Eric Renschler serves as the scenic designer; Assistant Professor Sarah J. Smith is the costume designer; Associate Professor Stephen Boulmetis serves as the lighting designer; Sidney McCarty, a senior from Clarksville, Tenn., is the sound designer; Professor Diane Brewer serves as the dramaturg; Olivia Bast, a junior from Austin, Texas, is the stage manager; Professor Chuck Meacham serves as the technical director, and Assistant Professor Janel Miley is the vocal/dialect coach.

The cast features Kate Milazzo, from Carmel, Ind., as Aramis; Alexander James Hunter, from Conifer, Colo., as Rochefort; Amanda Cowan, from Mansfield, Texas, as Queen Anne; Grace Maddux, from Dubuque, Iowa, as Milady; Jackson Burnham, from Houston, Texas, as Cardinal-Duke Richelieu; Ethan Davenport, from Minneapolis, Minn., as Athos; Madeline Malinowski, from Pocatello, Idaho, as Planchet; Liam Johnson, from Wardsboro, Vt.., as Bonacieux; Evan Lawson, from Arvada, Colo., as Porthos; Jordan Williams, from, Edmonds, Wash., as D’Artagnan; Bailey Lomax, from Sellersburg, Ind., as Captain Treville; Lillie Kolich, from Albuquerque, N.M., as Constance; David Akinwande, from Houston, Texas, as King Louis XIII; McAllister Stowell, from Lakewood, Colo., as Lord Buckingham. Players include Justin Pappas, from Boulder, Colo.; Luke Moran, from Mount Vernon, Iowa; Kelly Walsh, from Hollywood, Fla.; Connor DeWolfe, from Overland Park, Kan.; Rebecca Alley, from Temple, Texas; and Jake Conrad, from Olympia, Wash.

Ticket prices are $18 for an adult and $16 for a senior adult, child/student, and UE employee. UE students may obtain one free student rush ticket beginning at 12 noon on the day of the performance they wish to attend. The UE Theatre Society hosts a Pre-Play Chat 30 minutes prior to the show on Thursday, Oct. 24, and Saturday, Oct. 19. All are welcome to attend the presentation and discussion with a student designer about their process on the production.

Season subscriptions are on sale now and include the three Shanklin Theatre productions: THE THREE MUSKETEERS, plus, the heart-stirring musical VIOLET, with music by Jeanine Tesori and lyrics and book by Brian Crawley, and THE SEAGULL, by Anton Chekhov, adapted by Tom Stoppard. Subscription prices for the three-play package are $46 for an adult and $40 for a senior adult, child/student, and UE employee. Tickets may be purchased by calling (812) 488-2031, Monday through Friday, 12 noon to 5 p.m.

AG Curtis Hill To Discuss Discovery Of Additional Fetal Remains

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Attorney General Curtis Hill will hold a media availability this afternoon to discuss the discovery today of additional fetal remains in Illinois believed to be linked to abortions performed in Indiana. The latest remains were found within the confines of additional personal properties associated with the late Dr. Ulrich Klopfer, who performed abortions at Indiana clinics located in Fort Wayne, Gary and South Bend.

Today’s events are the latest developments in an investigation that began when Illinois authorities on Sept. 12 learned that family members going through Dr. Klopfer’s belongings found preserved fetal remains at his residence. On Oct. 2, Attorney General Hill oversaw the transportation of 2,246 aborted fetuses back to Indiana from Will County, Illinois.

“Today we were notified by authorities in Illinois that family members this morning found additional fetal remains as they continued to sort through the late doctor’s belongings,” Attorney General Hill said. “We have dispatched investigators to Illinois to gather facts, but we anticipate simply adding these remains into the protocol we have already set up for dealing with these disturbing circumstances.”

Although little new information is expected to become available today, Attorney General Hill will conduct media interviews from 3:30 p.m. to 4:50 p.m. today at his Statehouse office, located in Room 219. Credentialed media interested in scheduling brief interviews during this time slot may email Lauren Houck at Lauren.Houck@atg.in.gov or call her at (317) 675-6893.

Attorney General Hill also has announced that his office has set up a phone number and email address for the specific use of anyone with possible connections to the fetal remains who may wish to inquire. The email address is questions@atg.in.gov, and the phone number is (317) 234-6663.

This Week at USI – Families Weekend Caps Week Of Arts And Theatre Events

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Below is a list of events and activities happening in and around the USI community in the coming weeks:

Registration closes Tuesday, October 15; Race is Saturday, November 2

Registration closing soon for 18th annual Norwegian Foot March
The 18th annual Norwegian Foot March, an intense mental and physical challenge, will take participants 18.6 miles through the rolling hills of Evansville’s west side. Carrying a 25-pound rucksack, participants will begin and end on the USI campus, working to make it back to the finish line generally in under four and a half hours depending on age and gender. ROTC cadets, soldiers and veterans, as well as civilians, may register individually or as part of a four-member team. Registration can be completed online or by calling USI Outreach and Engagement at 812-464-1989. Early registration is recommended, as the event sells out quickly. ROTC cadets from any school can register for $25 and all other participants can register for $45. Registration will close on October 15 or when the event is full at 500 participants. More Information

6 p.m. Wednesday, October 16

2019 Berger Lecture presentation to cover “The Re/Evolution of the Black Arts Movement”

The University of Southern Indiana Psychology Department welcomes Ron Himes and Heather Beal as they present the 2019 Sydney Berger Lecture. Their lecture, “The Re/Evolution of the Black Arts Movement,” will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, October 16 in Mitchell Auditorium, located on the first floor of the Health Professions Center on the USI campus. This event is free and open to the public. “The Re/Evolution of the Black Arts Movement” will investigate the continued need for cultural institutions of color. Himes founded his own theatre company in 1976, during the height of the Black Arts Movement. Himes and Beal will ask and address the following question: do we still need a theatre company dedicated to blackness and why? Read More

Thursday, October 17 – Saturday, October 19

USI Theatre presents a student-directed production of A Doll’s House, Part 2
University of Southern Indiana Theatre continues its fall 2019 season with a student-directed production of A Doll’s House, Part 2, by Lucas Hnath, from October 17-19.  It will be directed by USI theatre student Brennen Hobson. Admission is free on a first come, first served basis. All performances will take place in the Helen Mallette Studio Theatre, located in room 0105 in the lower level of the College of Liberal Arts. The performances will be held October 17-19 with all showings starting at 7:00 p.m.  Read More

3 p.m. Friday, October 18

Associate professor of art education to present “Colorblindness: A Visual Art Resource”

The University of Southern Indiana College of Liberal Arts will host its second Liberal Arts Faculty Colloquium for the Fall 2019 semester featuring associate professor of art education, Dr. Joseph Uduehi, at 3 p.m. Friday, October 18, in Kleymeyer Hall in the Liberal Arts Center. Uduehi’s presentation will focus on the visual arts resources that he has developed to assist colorblind individuals in dealing with the challenges posed by colorblindness. Read More

Friday, October 18 – Sunday, October 20 

USI Alumni Relations and Volunteer USI host full schedule of Families Weekend events, including tailgate and Fall Spruce Up

The University of Southern Indiana will host Families Weekend activities from Friday, October 18 through Sunday, October 20 on the USI campus and throughout the Evansville and New Harmony area. Highlights include a USI Soccer Tailgate at 5 p.m. Friday, October 18 and the Fall Spruce Up at noon Sunday, October 20. More Information and Full Schedule of Events

On display through Friday, October 25

USI to exhibit woodwork of John McNaughton, art alumni
The University of Southern Indiana’s McCutchan Art Center and Pace Galleries will host two exhibitions of wooden sculptures and wood-media artwork through October 25, 2019. A free, public reception for the exhibitions will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, October 25. Still Kicking and Carving: John McNaughton features the work of nationally acclaimed artist and USI professor emeritus of art John McNaughton. The work in this exhibition is made up of meticulously fashioned, wooden sculptures and function objects, both big and small, with subject matter ranging from political commentary to personal struggles. Read More

 

USI returns to Strassweg for two

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Eagles host Kick for Cure match Sunday

The University of Southern Indiana women’s soccer team returns to the friendly surroundings of Strassweg Field to start a two-match homestand that includes the annual “Kick for the Cure” match Sunday. The homestand begins Friday when the Screaming Eagles host the University of Illinois Springfield for a 5 p.m. contest, followed by the “Kick for the Cure” match Sunday when they host Lewis University for a noon start.

USI will be wearing its pink jerseys Sunday versus Lewis in support of the fight against breast cancer. Match coverage for all of USI’s GLVC showdowns can be found on GoUSIEagles.com.

Week 7 Eagle Notes: 

Eagles split second half of road trip: The Eagles extended their winning streak to five matches with a 1-0 win over William Jewell College, but stumbled in their visit to GLVC front-running Rockhurst University, 2-0.

Road trip review: USI was a successful 3-1-0 on the four-match road swing, the longest stretch away from Strassweg Field this year.

Scoring Leaders: Junior forward Maggie Winter sits on top of the scoring column for USI with 10 points on four goals and two assists, while sophomore forward Katlyn Andres is second with nine points on four goals and one assist. Junior forward Taylor McCormick, senior forward/midfielder Emilie Blomenkamp, and junior forward Audrey Andrzejewski are tied for the team-lead with three assists each.

Spreading out the goals: USI has 20 goals by 12 different goal scorers and six different players with game winning goals.

Between the posts:  Freshman goalkeeper Maya Etienne leads the Eagles in goal with a 8-2-0 record, a 0.56 goals against average, seven shutouts, and 51 saves.

Shutout or nothing: Each of USI’s 2019 victories have resulted in a shutout, while each time the Eagles have allowed a goal has resulted in the three losses.

GLVC Players of the Week: USI has had three GLVC Players of the Week this fall. Freshman goalkeeper Maya Etienne became the third player and the first defensive award winner last week, while junior forward Maggie Winter and junior defender Madelyne Juenger have earned the offensive award earlier this year.

Schoenstein enters his 4th year: USI Head Coach Eric Schoenstein is in his fourth season as the head coach of the Eagles, producing a 37-22-7 mark, a share of a GLVC regular season title, and three-straight GLVC Tournament appearances.

Illinois Springfield in 2019: The Prairie Stars of Illinois Springfield are 6-6-0 overall and 5-4-0 in the GLVC after snapping a four-match losing streak with a 2-1 victory over the University of Indianapolis on Sunday. The Stars had won five of their first seven before the losing streak.

USI vs. Illinois Springfield: The Eagles hold the all-time series lead with Illinois Springfield, 8-0-2, and won last fall’s meeting, 1-0, at Strassweg Field on a goal by senior forward Emilie Blomenkamp.

Lewis in 2019:  Lewis is 6-4-2 overall and 4-3-2 in the GLVC, going 3-0-1 in its last four matches. The Flyers had a three-match winning-streak snapped with a tie at home versus Bellarmine University Sunday.

USI vs. Lewis: USI also holds a series lead over Lewis, 15-5-3, and captured a share of the 2018 GLVC regular season crown with a 2-1 double overtime victory in Romeoville, Illinois, on a last-second goal by senior midfielder Courtney Spicer. The Eagles also had a goal by senior defender Loryn Willis in the victory.

 

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