|  Vanderburgh County – Last night at approximately 7:35, Evansville Central Dispatch alerted area police about a possible impaired motorist driving a white Ford F150 in the area of I-69 and US 41. A motorist following the suspected impaired driver was able to give location updates until Trooper Rafferty spotted the vehicle traveling east on Riverside Drive approaching Culver Drive. The vehicle was swerving side to side and crossed over the center line into oncoming traffic. Trooper Rafferty activated his emergency lights and siren and attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver continued east on Riverside Drive approximately seven blocks before turning north on Linwood. When Evansville Police arrived Trooper Rafferty was able to maneuver his patrol car ahead of the suspected impaired driver, who was traveling approximately 15-20 mph. The driver stopped and stumbled out of his truck. The driver was identified as Maycol Francisco Tomas, 24, of Evansville. Tomas failed on scene field sobriety tests. While transporting Tomas to the Vanderburgh County Jail he became agitated, unfastened his seatbelt and attempted to exit the patrol car while traveling north on US 41 at Lynch. Trooper Rafferty was able to restrain Tomas and prevent him from escaping. After arriving at the jail, Tomas continued to resist and had to be removed from the patrol car. Further investigation revealed Tomas had a blood alcohol content of .21%. He was arrested and is currently being held on bond in the Vanderburgh County Jail.
Arrested and Charges:
Arresting Officer: Trooper Ross Rafferty, Indiana State Police Assisting Agency: Evansville Police
 All criminal defendants are to be presumed innocent until, and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. |
Concerned Motorist Helps Police with Locating Impaired Driver
Otters score 10 runs in win against Freedom
The Evansville Otters attacked early offensively against the Florence Freedom Saturday, winning by a final score of 10-1 to even the weekend series in front of 4,016 fans at Bosse Field.
The Otters provided plenty of early run support behind starter Austin Nicely, who was in control from first pitch.
Evansville exploded in the second inning against Freedom starter George Faue, putting up five runs.
Rob Calabrese scored on a throwing error by Freedom third baseman Taylor Bryant to give the Otters a 1-0 lead.
David Cronin followed with an RBI single to score Hunter Cullen, extending his on-base streak to 15 consecutive games and extending the Otters’ lead to two.
Ryan Long then ripped a two-RBI double to score Calabrese and Cronin to give the Otters a 4-0 cushion. A sac fly by Elijah MacNamee scored Keith Grieshaber to push the Otters’ fifth run across.
Five runs seemed to be enough run support for Austin Nicely, who retired 12 of his first 13 batters and didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning with two outs.
The Otters tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the fourth, as MacNamee had a two-RBI double to score Long and Cronin. MacNamee later scored on a sac fly from Dakota Phillips.
The Otters led 8-0 after four, causing the Freedom to pull starter George Faue after five innings. The lefty allowed eight runs-six earned-on eight hits with five strikeouts. He would take the loss, dropping his record to 2-4.
Nicely would cruise through seven shutout innings, allowing only four hits and tossing five strikeouts. He avenged his loss at Florence in July, earning his first win against Florence and his sixth win of the season.
The Otters added two more runs off knuckleballer Chris Amend in the sixth as Dakota Phillips worked an RBI walk with the bases loaded and Taylor Lane hit a sac fly to score Grieshaber. The Otters’ advantage reached 10-0 over the Freedom.
Trace Norkus would pitch two innings, allowing a run on an RBI single from Connor Crane, closing the door on Florence in his second appearance with the Otters.
Long, MacNamee and Phillips each had multiple RBIs with MacNamee recording three.
Additionally, Long and Grieshaber had multi-hit games.
The Otters’ magic number to clinch a postseason berth is four after Saturday’s win.
Evansville will look to earn a series win Sunday in the rubber game against the Freedom
First pitch Sunday will be at 12:35 p.m. from Bosse Field.
George “Allen†McCoy
George “Allen†McCoy, 71, of Chandler, Indiana passed away on Thursday, August 22, 2019 at Deaconess Gateway Hospital in Newburgh, Indiana.
Allen was born on September 5, 1947 in Evansville, Indiana to the late George E. (StepMother Louise) and Goldie May (Gibson) McCoy.
Allen graduated from Harrison High School in 1966. He served in the United States Army during Vietnam. Allen retired from Black Equipment after 40 years of service as a mechanic. He was a member of the Main Street United Methodist Church, VFW Post # 1114 in Evansville. Allen loved classic cars and was a member of the Old Tin Street Rod Club and the Heat and Beat.
He is preceded in death by his parents, grandparents, Rollie and Catherine McCoy.
Allen is survived by his wife of 53 years, Janice (Ward) McCoy of Chandler, IN; children, Mark McCoy and his wife, Sandy (Lett) of Boonville, IN; Cindy McCoy and her husband, Z of Evansville, IN; Angela Temme and her husband, Jason of Evansville, IN; Scott McCoy of Chandler, IN; grandchildren, Zach (Taylor), Matthew, Andrew, Ryan, Sheila (Nathan), Nick, Dylan, Haley, Seth, Jacob; 7 great-grandchildren.
Services will be 12 P.M. on Tuesday, August 27, 2019 at Koehler Funeral Home, Perigo Chapel in Chandler, Indiana with Pastor Kris Brown officiating. Burial will be at Sunset Memorial Park Cemetery in Evansville, Indiana with the Warrick County Veterans Memorial Services to conduct military honors.
Visitation will be from 2 P.M. until 8 P.M. on Monday, August 26, 2019 and again from 9 A.M. until the time of service on Tuesday at the funeral home.
To send flowers to the family of George Allen McCoy, please visit Tribute Store.
EPA Provides $1.2 Million to Hypoxia Task Force States
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is providing a total of $1.2 million to the 12 state members of the Hypoxia Task Force (HTF) to help implement state plans to reduce excess nutrients in the Mississippi River/Atchafalaya River Basin. Through this funding, EPA is promoting tailored and effective nutrient reduction efforts that are developed through state leadership in coordination with EPA.
“Different states have different needs and we want to be flexible to help each state make progress in ways that work best for them, their partners and their stakeholders,†said EPA Assistant Administrator for Water David Ross. “Focusing our efforts on local solutions and collaborative efforts is key as we make progress on improving water quality in this critical watershed.â€
The HTF provides direction and support to improve water quality in local waterways and in the Gulf of Mexico. By providing this funding to HTF states, EPA is further empowering our state partners to implement tailored and effective efforts, including updating nutrient management plans, developing water quality trading programs and demonstrating best practices in high-priority watersheds.
This funding complements the Trump Administration’s regional and national efforts to reduce excess nutrients in our nation’s waters. Just last week, EPA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) hosted the National Nutrient Finance Forum to continue public engagement on innovative financing strategies and opportunities to fund the deployment of projects across the landscape to improve water quality. Leveraging existing federal and state programs, partnering with public and private sources of funding and promoting market-based approaches can help reduce excess nutrients and improve water quality at the watershed scale.
“This administration hosted the National Nutrient Finance Forum to encourage creative problem solving and highlight ways that private and public sector funds can be leveraged to further reduce excess nutrients in our nation’s waters,†said Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Water Anna Wildeman. “This forum is the capstone to a summer-long outreach and engagement effort, which has been met with great interest across public and private sector stakeholders.â€
“USDA has an extensive and successful history of helping agricultural producers and forest landowners seek traditional and innovative solutions for improving water quality on or near their operations,†said Natural Resources Conservation Service Deputy Chief for Programs Jimmy Bramblett. “We are committed to using our established and diverse partnerships to explore innovative approaches to improving water quality on privately-owned working lands.â€
These two efforts are the latest in a series of Trump Administration initiatives to reduce excess nutrients and improve water quality.
In December 2018, EPA and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a letter to state co-regulators encouraging a reinvigoration of state, tribal and federal efforts to reduce excess nutrients in waterways, with a focus on market-based and other collaborative approaches. In February 2019, EPA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Water Research Foundation to develop affordable technologies to recycle nutrients from livestock manure and also issued a new water quality trading policy memorandum intended to promote nutrient reductions and water quality improvements at a lower cost using market-based mechanisms.
On May 22, 2019, EPA issued new recommendations for water quality criteria and swimming advisory values for two cyanotoxins. EPA also published infographics for state and stakeholder use to help inform the public of what harmful algal blooms may look like and how to prevent exposure to humans and pets.
In July 2019, EPA released the Cyanobacteria Assessment Network (CyAN) mobile app, which uses satellite data to alert users that a harmful algal bloom could be forming based on specific changes in the color of the water in more than 2,000 of the largest lakes and reservoirs across the United States.
Last week, EPA announced awarding more than $7.5 million in Farmer to Farmer Cooperative Agreements to fund projects that improve water quality, habitat and environmental education in the Gulf of Mexico watershed. These grants promote innovative, market-based solutions for monitoring and improving water quality while also maintaining a vital agricultural economy.
On August 21, EPA and four federal partners announced the winners of the Nutrient Sensor Action Challenge—a technology-accelerating water quality challenge that is focused on nutrient management. This year’s winners demonstrated how data from low cost water quality monitoring sensors can be used to inform local-scale nutrient management decisions.
LEADERSHIP EVERYONE NEXT RETREAT: OCTOBER 22-24
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COMPLIMENTARY OBITUARIES NOW IN CITY-COUNTY OBSERVER
COMPLIMENTARY OBITUARIES NOW IN CITY-COUNTY OBSERVER
As you might have already noticed, the City-County Observer has made a serious effort in 2019 to provide complimentary obituaries to our readers. We feel it is our duty to honor the memory of the deceased and relay this information to the community without charging any fees. Â We are pleased that we are in a position to help grieving family members during their time of need by publishing the obituaries of their loved ones at no costs.
With that being said, we would like to take a moment to thank the following local funeral homes that have helped make our vision possible:
Alexander Funeral Homes (Evansville And Newburgh)
Ziemer Funeral Homes (Evansville)
Scheider Funeral Home (Mt. Vernon)
Koehler Funeral Home (Boonville And Chandler)
Mason Brothers Memorial Chapel (Evansville And Henderson)
Titzer Funeral Homes (Evansville-Newburgh)
Pierre Funeral Home (Evansville)
BOONE Funeral Home (Evansville)
We look forward to adding one more funeral home in one obituary section in the near future. If you or anyone you know has influence with Browning FUNERAL Home we encourage you to ask them to contact the City-County Observer so we can discuss with them about putting their complimentary obituaries in our paper.
Board of School Trustees of the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation Meeting
The Board of School Trustees of the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation will meet in executive session at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, August 26, 2019, in the John H. Schroeder Conference Centre at the EVSC Administration Building, 951 Walnut, IN 47713, Evansville, IN.
The session will be conducted according to Senate Enrolled Act 313, Section 1, I.C. 5-14-1.5-6.1, as amended. The purpose of the meeting is for discussion of one or more of the following: collective bargaining, (2)(A); initiation of litigation or litigation that is either pending or has been threatened specifically in writing, (2)(B); purchase or lease of property, (2)(D); for discussion of the assessment, design, and implementation of school safety and security measures, plans, and systems (3); and job performance evaluation of individual employees, (9); to train school board members with an outside consultant about the performance of the role of the members as public officials (11).
The regular meeting of the School Board will follow at 5:30 p.m. in the EVSC Board Room, same address.
The MONTHLY SCOOP ON THE ARTS IN COMMUNITIES
Learn how Decay Devils has been able to get a Rust Belt city interested in historical preservation for the first time in 40 years at the Indiana Arts Homecoming conference this October in Indianapolis.
A few years ago, the City of Gary sold the Union Station building for $10 to Decay Devils “who have cleaned the outside and have plans to haul away the garbage and put windows back in. Perhaps it could become a restaurant. Or a museum. Most of all, they say, it could serve as a sign that this city, which has lost more than half its population and struggles with violence and blight, is heading toward a long-awaited rebound.” (Mitch Smith, New York Times)
Presenting will be one of the organization’s founding members, Andrea Ledbetter. In addition to her work with Decay Devils, Andrea is a photographer, writer, researcher, and registered nurse. Space is limited so grab your ticket for the Indiana Arts Homecoming (October 24-25, 2019) and secure your spot to get connected with this incredible group! |
Ohio-based band Mo’ Mojo perform at The Purple Fiddle in West Virginia. Photo from The Purple Fiddle.
Five Stories You Don’t Want to Miss
How one rural community leveraged the arts to renew its economy
Artwork created in El Paso to help the community heal
Learning the racial geography of Indiana as a young Black girl in the 1980s
18 times Toni Morrison spoke to our souls
The power and possibility of Dayton’s Oregon District
Putnam County Mural Project Site from CreatINg Places
Friends Tell Friends About Funding
We’re here for a good alliteration and sharing funding opportunities to help bring the arts to communities across our state. Take a look at these opportunities.
- Arts in the Parks and Historic Sites for site specific project support
- CreatINg Places crowdfunding for community improvements and projects
- Rural Indiana Performance Fund for community concerts / performances
- Historic Renovation Grant Program for facade facelifts
- INcommon grants support community gatherings to talk about tough topics
Inspiration from Instagram
Indiana is home to ten arts and culture hot spots! Follow these Instagram accounts for creative inspiration.
- Arts Village Brown County
- Bloomington Entertainment and Arts District (BEAD)
- Carmel Arts and Design District
- Columbus Area Arts Council
- Madison Area Arts Alliance
- Nickel Plate District, Fishers
- Nickel Plate Arts, Noblesville
- NoCo Arts and Cultural District
- Wabash Valley Art Spaces
- Tippecanoe Arts Federation
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Sending all the creative vibes your way, Bridget Eckert
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