The victim from yesterday’s investigation has been identified as Monika Roberts, age 35, of Maryland. An autopsy has been completed and it was determined that she died of a single gunshot wound to the head.  The death has been ruled a homicide.  The Henderson Police Department along with the Evansville Police Department are together investigating the death as a homicide and that investigation is ongoing.
The Vanderburgh County Coroners Office and the Evansville Police Department are investigating the death of a pedestrian who was struck near the intersection of Washington Ave and Weinbach Ave. the victim has been identified as James R. Adams , age 75, of Evansville died at St. Vincent Hospital at 19:08 hours after being taken there for treatment.
We hope that today’s â€IS IT TRUE” 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?
Todays“Readers Poll†question is: Do you agree with Councilman Jonathan Weaver that the City of Evansville is having serious cash flow problems?
IS IT TRUE that City Council voted 8 to 1, passing a whopping $395 million budget for 2019? …that the 2019 budget is a 7% increase over this year’s budget?  …that City Council give city employees a 2% raise for this coming year?…that Finance Chairman and Councilman Jonathan Weaver was the only member to vote against the 2019 budget, saying the current (2018) budget is already $13 million over budget so far this year? …for this, we give Mr. Weaver two (2) thumbs up for standing up for the taxpayers and voting against 2019 in its current form?
IS IT TRUE we also give two (2) thumbs down to the 8 members of City Council for voting on the 2019 budget in its current form? …we are told that many people are disappointed in City Council members G. John Hayden (R), CPA and Justin Elpers (R) for not taking a stronger stance against the 2019 City budget?
IS IT TRUE we can’t wait to read the State Board of Accounts financial audit that was just completed on the City of Evansville? …we expect the soon to be release SBOA audit could prove to be an embarrassment to the Mayor and the members of City Council who voted for the approval of the 2019 City budget?
IS IT TRUE that County Attorney, Joe Harrison, Barnes & Thornburg Attorney, Tom Pittman, and County Commissioner, Ben Shoulders appeared before Evansville City Council to ask for their approval of a Bond Ordinance within the “Burkhardt TIF” area in order to proceed with numerous road, bridge and trail projects? …that numerous community leaders, engineers, neighborhood associations, residents, taxpayers and “Trail Coalition” board members spoke out in favor of this project?
IS IT TRUE that the only opposing public comment about this project came from County Councilman, James Raben? Â …that County Councilman Raben called the “Burkhardt TIF District Trails Project” a waste of money and he also alleges that the entire Vanderburgh County Council, opposed this project? Â …that the Evansville City snubbed Mr. Raben’s request to reject this project and voted to pass this Ordinance 7-2?
Staff Report
TheStatehouseFile.comÂ
INDIANAPOLIS – U.S. Sen. Todd Young, R-Indiana, said Friday he believes Dr. Christine Blasey Ford suffered “some trauma†and was the victim of misconduct.
But, Young added, “that misconduct was something Judge (Brett) Kavanaugh was in no way responsible for.â€
Young spoke to reporters by conference call Friday morning. He reaffirmed that he will vote to move Kavanaugh’s nomination forward and will vote to confirm the judge to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Young said he supported Kavanaugh’s nomination because the judge is a constitutional originalist. The senator cited the 300 opinions Kavanaugh issued from the bench and said the legal reasoning in a dozen of them had been adopted by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Young said he was glad the Federal Bureau of Investigation did a supplementary investigation into Ford’s allegation that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they both were teenagers.
“Those are very serious allegations and they needed to be investigated,†Young said.
But he said the FBI’s investigation didn’t provide corroboration of Ford’s charges. Democrats and other critics have charged that the investigation, which was limited to interviewing nine people and didn’t include either Ford or Kavanaugh, was not thorough.
“It was thorough enough for me,†Young said of the FBI report.
The senator also bemoaned the partisan nature of the confirmation battle.
“I’m not proud of what has occurred in the United States Senate,†Young said.
“The search for truth became a search-and-destroy mission.â€
Less than hour after the telephone press conference, the Senate voted, 51-49, on partisan lines to close debate on Kavanaugh nomination. The vote for confirmation could come as early as Saturday.
FOOTNOTE: TheStatehouseFile.com is a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.
OCTOBER 9TH, 2018 
AMANDA PORTER INDIANA
A tip led Evansville police to the backyard of a home on South New York avenue.
When police arrived they discovered a body lying in the backyard.
“We sent our officers and our detective over to try to verify that information, and we did find what we believe to be a body,†says Evansville police captain Stephanie Cox.
After getting a search warrant for the property EPD detectives made their way inside to search for answers as previously reported.
“There was no one in the home,†says Capt. Cox.
“They are going to be going through that with a fine tooth comb to process anything we think might possibly be there.â€
Neighbors say the house has been empty for years.
Right now, police say they aren’t able to confirm the gender, age or race of the person they found.
So there are a lots of questions surrounding the circumstances of how the body got there in the first place.
And often times neighbors can help fill in some of the gaps in these investigations.
“We want to talk to that person as well as everyone in the neighborhood too see if they seen anything, that could lead us to who this person might be and what happened to them,†says Cox.
Neighbors like Bill Moss say they are concerned.
“It’s horrifying to that you live so close to so much chaos going on right now.â€
Detectives are starting to go over evidence recovered from the house.
Police are also working to compare any recent missing persons reports to see if today’s discovery could be linked to any of those cases.
Vanderburgh county coroner Steve Lockyear is investigating the discovery.
An autopsy is scheduled Wednesday at 1 p.m.
OCTOBER 9TH, 2018 MITCH ANGLE EVANSVILLE, INDIANA
The Federal Energy Regulation Commission approved the deal which is expected to close in the first quarter if 2019.
The companies announced plans for the merger in April and shareholders approved the merger in August.
Informational meetings with regulators in Indiana and Ohio have also started even though neither state has approval authority over the merger.
OCTOBER 9TH, 2018AMANDA PORTER INDIANA
In front of a packed house at the Civic Center, Council was debating whether to cut money from several non-profits in an effort to cut down on the 2019 budget.
Many local residents showed up in support of those non-profits, arguing against cutting anything from their budgets.
Affordable housing, the Metropolitan Evansville Transit System, and road projects were big topics of discussion.
An amendment to cut METS by $100,000 was mentioned as well as decreasing the affordable housing fund from $500,000 to $100,000, which was not approved.
Council did pass a 2% raise for city workers, but Mayor Lloyd Winnecke along with Justin Elpers and Jonathan Weaver opted to not accept that raise.
After several hours of public comment, Council voted 8 to 1, passing the $395 million budget. Councilman Jonathan Weaver was the only member to vote against the budget, saying the current 2018 budget is already $13 million over budget.
Katie Stancombe for www.theindianalawyer.com
A habitual offender convicted of resisting law enforcement could not convince the Indiana Court of Appeals on Tuesday that a trial court’s error in admitting hearsay evidence in his case made a fair trial impossible.
When signaled to stop driving by a Hancock County deputy in May 2017, James Baker instead accelerated and drove off at high speed. Not long after the deputy ceased pursuit of Baker’s vehicle for safety reasons, Baker erratically drove through an intersection, crashed into a median, and fled the scene on foot. Witnesses pointed officers in the direction Baker was headed.
Once found by Officer Keven Stickford and his K-9, Baker was placed in handcuffs and taken into custody. Stickford, over objection, later testified that he saw and heard another officer ask Baker “why he ran.†Stickford further testified that Baker responded, “because he was scared.â€
Baker was subsequently convicted by a jury of Level 6 felony resisting law enforcement and Class A misdemeanor driving while suspended. He waived his right a jury trial for his habitual offender enhancement, and the court determined he was a habitual offender.
On appeal, Baker argued the Hancock Superior Court erred when it allowed Stickford to testify about the unnamed officer’s question, contending Stickford’s description was inadmissible hearsay.
The appellate court found that the unnamed officer’s question was offered for “the truth of the matter asserted†and should not have been admitted into evidence under Powell v. State, 714 N.E.2d 624, 627 (Ind. 1999).
“In this case, Officer Stickford testified that he observed and heard an unidentified officer ask Baker, ‘why he ran.’ That question, like the ‘classic example’ discussed in the Powell case, contains a factual utterance that is capable of being proven true or false, specifically that Baker ran away,†Senior Judge Carr Darden wrote.
Although considered hearsay, the appellate court noted that the admission of the description was ultimately a harmless error that did not contribute to the jury’s verdict. It found witness testimony confirmed that there was sufficient independent evidence to prove Baker was guilty.
Additionally, the appellate court denied Baker’s argument that the admission violated his Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses because the unnamed officer was not brought to court to testify.
“Even if Baker had not waived his Sixth Amendment claim, and even if admission of the question violated Baker’s right to confront witnesses, such violations ‘do not require reversal if the State can show beyond a reasonable doubt that the error did not contribute to the verdict,’†Darden continued.
In his final argument, Baker contended that the trial court erred in allowing Stickford to testify about Baker’s response to the question of why he ran.
The appellate court found the trial court erred in admitting Baker’s answer to the question before he was read his Miranda rights, but extensive eyewitness testimony clearly established his guilt regardless.
“We cannot conclude herein that admission of Baker’s answer to the officer’s question, although in error, was so egregious as to render a fair trial impossible,†Darden concluded, affirming Baker’s convictions in James Wade Baker, Jr. v. State of Indiana, 30A01-1710-CR-2511.
