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26th Annual Mystery Event, “Murder on Slaughter Avenue”

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Join us Saturday, August 18th for another true unsolved Evansville murder. This years production is written by Kelley Coures and Peggy Newton and will be directed by Kelley Coures. Special thanks to our Title Sponsor John M. Lawrence & Associates. Call the Museum if you’re interested in being a sponsor for this unique, sellout event!
$75 per person. Includes performances in the Reitz Home from 6 to 8 p.m. followed by heavy hors d’oeuvres and a wine & beer cash bar in the Carriage House . The cast will join the party after 8 p.m. following the last performance.

ADOPT A PET

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Lemur is a female brown tabby cat! She was the mom of the “Monkey” kittens, who have all been adopted. Lemur is sweet & outgoing, so she is now available at River Kitty Cat Café in downtown Evansville! Her adoption fee is $40 and includes her spay, microchip, vaccines, and more. Contact Vanderburgh Humane at (812) 426-2563 for adoption details!

 

IU’s Grothe Wins Gold, King Two Silvers on Sunday at Pan Pacific Championships

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Indiana University postgraduate swimmer Zane Grothe put an exclamation point on his great week at the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships in Tokyo, winning the gold medal in the men’s 800m freestyle.

Grothe earned his gold in the event with a Pan Pacs record time of 7:43.74. For the week, Grothe won three medals – gold in the 800m free, silver in the 1500m free and bronze in the 400m free.

IU’s Lilly King won two silver medals on Sunday to cap her week in Tokyo. The rising senior won silver in the women’s 200m breaststroke with a time of 2:22.12, securing her spot in the event on Team USA for next summer’s World Championships. Later, King helped Team USA (3:53.21) win silver in the women’s 4x100m medley relay. King split a 1:04.86 in her breaststroke leg, the best time in the field.

For the week, Hoosier swimmers have now earned 10 medals over the course of four days of competition – four gold, four silver and two bronze.

In the men’s 4x100m medley relay, current Hoosiers Vini Lanza and Gabriel Fantoni helped Team Brazil take fourth in the event with a time of 3:32.16. Lanza posted a time of 51.68 in the butterfly, while Fantoni led off with a backstroke leg of 53.72.

Blake Pieroni won his third B Final of the week on Sunday, touching first in the men’s 50m freestyle B Final with a time of 22.22. Pieroni also won the B Finals of the 100m free and 200m free. In the 50m B Final, current IU swimmer Zach Apple was second with a time of 22.30.

In the women’s 50m freestyle B Final, IU postgrads Margo Geer (25.04) and Isabella Arcila (25.28) placed third and fifth, respectively.

Incoming freshman Michael Brinegar had a great showing in the men’s 800m freestyle, posting the ninth-fastest time in 7:58.79. Brinegar will compete for Team USA in the open water 10k on Monday.

Postgrad swimmer Kennedy Goss placed sixth in the B Final of the women’s 200m backstroke for Team Canada,

 

Hensley and Chavarria toss combined no-hitter to help Otters split doubleheader with Freedom

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Ty Hensley and Matt Chavarria combined for the third no-hitter in Evansville Otters franchise history as the Otters won the second game of a doubleheader 2-0 against the Florence Freedom, following a 5-2 loss to Florence in the first game.

In the first game, Caleb Lopes clubbed two, two-run home runs to lead the Freedom to the win.

Florence plated two runs in the first inning on the first two-run homer from Lopes.

Taylor Bryant put the Freedom up 3-0 with an RBI double in the top of the fourth.

The Otters got on the board in the fifth on back-to back RBI singles from David Cronin and Ryan Long.

Lopes hit his second two-run homer in the seventh to restore Florence’s three run advantage.

That home run helped finish off the Otters as Jonathon Tripp picks up the six-out save to secure the 5-2 victory for the Freedom.

Evan Korson gets the win after retiring one hitter.

Randy Wynne is hit with his eighth loss of the season while picking up his fourth complete game of the season. Wynne allowed five runs on 10 hits while striking out six.

Steve Hagen gets the no-decision for the Freedom. Hagen went 4.2 innings allowing two runs on three hits while striking out three.

The Otters tossed a combine no-hitter against the Freedom to clinch a 2-0 victory to split the doubleheader.

Evansville jumped ahead in the first on a Long solo homer, his tenth of the year.

In the second, J.J Gould beat out an infield single to short and Mike Rizzitello hustled all the way home from second to put the Otters up 2-0.

Those two runs stood tall as Hensley and Chavarria combined to no-hit the Freedom.

Hensley went the first five innings, walking four and striking out seven to earn his first win with the Otters.

Chavarria went the final two frames, walking one and striking out three, to garner his second save of the season.

Freedom starter Christian DeLeon is dealt the loss despite throwing a complete game. The righty went six innings, allowing two runs on five hits and striking out seven.

Advisory: Illinois man arrested on drug dealing & obstruction of justice charges following Friday night shooting investigation

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Evansville Police have arrested JILES THOMAS on obstruction of justice and dealing marijuana charges following a shooting investigation on Friday night.
Police were called to the area of Riverside and Boeke around 8:30pm for a reported shooting. Officers arrived and found a 14 year old male with a gunshot wound to his upper body. He was taken to a local hospital for treatment and is expected to survive.
Thomas left the area, but was located near Vann and Pollack a short time later.
According to Thomas, the 14 year of contacted him about purchasing marijuana. A time and place was agree upon and the two met to conduct a drug deal. Thomas said another male was with the 14 year old when he arrived. Thomas told investigators that during the deal, the juvenile pointed a gun at him and tried to rob him. Thomas told police he was armed with a handgun and fired one time at the juvenile. Thomas then left the scene.
Police were able to view the communications between the juvenile and Thomas that corroborated his account. Police also recovered a replica firearm near the scene of the shooting that was possibly used by the juvenile during the incident.
Thomas has not told investigators where he disposed of the gun he used in the shooting. Police recovered marijuana during their investigation.
The juvenile refused to cooperate with investigators.
Although the shooting happened during the commission of a separate crime, police believe the shooting was in self defense.
Thomas in in the Vanderburgh County Jail on Obstruction of Justice (Level 6 Felony) and Dealing Marijuana ( Class A Misdemeanor).
The juvenile has not been charged with a crime at this time. The investigation into his actions is on-going.

Champagne Problems in rematch with Pinch Hit in Groupie Doll

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Champagne Problems has competed against Pinch Hit three times: finishing third while beaten 1 1/2 lengths, then second by a neck before turning the tables on Pinch Hit in taking a Churchill Downs allowance race by three-quarters of a length.
Pinch Hit is the 2-1 morning-line favorite for Sunday’s $100,000, Grade 3 Groupie Doll Stakes, Ellis Park’s signature race. Champagne Problems is 12-1 in the field of 11 fillies and mares running a mile.
“As they would say, it’s a good thing she can’t read,” joked co-owner Randy Bloch, Champagne Problems’ co-owner from Louisville. “It doesn’t bother her.”
The disparity in odds no doubt is due in part because Pinch Hit had an adventurous trip in the June 23 allowance race and came back to win Indiana Grand’s $100,000 Mari Hulman George while Champagne Problems is training up to the race.
The other component could be that trainer Brad Cox and jockey Shaun Bridgmohan have been on a tear. Cox, the 2015 Ellis meet leader, had won 16 of his past 31 starts at the track, with Bridgmohan riding 14 of those winners.
But trainer Ian Wilkes is having a fine Ellis meet as well, winning nine of 31 starts, including the Ellis Park Turf Stakes with Bonnie Arch. Champagne Problems, who won an allowance race at Ellis Park last summer, again will be ridden by fan favorite and three-time Kentucky Derby-winning jockey Calvin Borel.
“She’s stakes-placed, and it would be great if we could get a graded-stakes win with her,” said Bloch, who owns Champagne Problems with Brad Stephens, John Seiler, Fred Merritt and David Hall. “As you can see from her form, she’s just an honest filly. She always gives it her all. She and Calvin really relate well to one another and glad he’s able to ride her.
“Any time you get into a stakes race, let alone a graded-stakes race, there you are butting heads with Steve Asmussen, Brad Cox, Larry Jones, Mike Tomlinson. It’s just an honor to be running against those guys. But it also makes it very difficult. It’s a tough race. But she fights; she’s a competitor. She’s honest.”
Borel agrees.
“She’s just improving where I’ll be able to put her where I want this trip,” he said. “Ian has been pointing this filly for this race for the last five months. He said, ‘This is the race we want to try to win.’ Her last race was very, very impressive. She traveled with me a lot closer (to the pace) and finished. Before, she’d grind but she wouldn’t give me a punch. But last time I laid just right off of them and she gave me a pretty good punch. That’s what we wanted to see coming into this race.”
Champagne Problems is the first of three Bloch-owned horses with the sparkling wine in their names, being followed by Champagne All Day and the 2-year-old Champagne Anyone. While there is no real story behind the name, Bloch promised, “There will be some bubbly afterward if we win.”
Bloch also has the Wilkes-trained homebred Jacktastic tackling the $75,000 Ellis Park Derby at a mile off a win in a $75,000 maiden-claiming race at Churchill Downs and $50,000 starter-allowance race victory at Ellis. Off four disappointing races as a 2-year-old, the turnaround for Jacktastic seems to have been gelding the horse.
 “His last two races have been really good,” Bloch said. “Ian was deciding between an allowance race and the Ellis Park Derby. He really wanted to run him short one more time and just decided, ‘Why not give him a shot now and we’ll figure out where to go from here.’ He’s won at Ellis and we’re kind of anxious to see what he does.”
Bridgmohan reunited with Groupie Doll favorite
Jockey Shaun Bridgmohan will be reunited with Pinch Hit, trained by meet-leading trainer Brad Cox, for the first time since he was aboard the Groupie Doll favorite for her first three races 1 1/2 years ago. With the filly going to Oaklawn, he didn’t ride her back when she won for the first time. But Bridgmohan did suggest adding blinkers, which owner Richard Klein attributes to Pinch Hit’s transformation into a multiple stakes-winner.
Bridgmohan has teamed with Cox to win three stakes so far this meet, the $100,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Tourist Mile with Mr. Misunderstood, the $100,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Calumet Farm Turf Cup with Arklow and the $50,000 Good Lord with Majestic Affair.
“I’ve ridden for him throughout his career,” Bridgmohan said of Cox. “We’ve always gotten lucky together. His stock obviously has gotten better throughout the years, and he’s getting better horses. He’s done a phenomenal job. His (win) percentage speaks for itself and his record. He’s a good trainer who does a phenomenal job.”
Misleading Lady seeking stakes placing (or better!)
The motivation of running 30-1 shot Misleading Lady in the Groupie Doll is shared by a good segment of the field: getting at least a graded-stakes placing that would enhance her value as a broodmare.
So when an allowance race didn’t go at Indiana Grand, owner Thomas Hinshaw and trainer Mike Tomlinson rerouted the 6-year-old mare to the Groupie Doll. In her first start for Tomlinson after being trained by Brad Cox, Misleading Lady was second in a Churchill Downs allowance race.
Misleading Lady has a 5-4-1 record in 18 starts, earning $203,933. Her first win came at Ellis Park three years ago.
“The owners would like to keep her as a broodmare and would like to get some black type (stakes wins or placings),” Tomlinson said. “The little mare is honest. It looks like a tough spot to win, but if she just hit the board and got black type for these owners, it would be a big plus. And this filly’s running style suits Ellis. She’s got tactical speed going that far. She’ll lay really close. It’s worth a shot.”
Pressley hoping for Karma indeed in Ellis Park Derby
One of the biggest groups at Ellis Park on Sunday will be Henderson entrepreneur Mike Pressley and his family, with two dozen relatives expected to watch Kowboy Karma in the new $75,000 Ellis Park Derby at a mile. Kowboy Karma, a stakes-winner who hasn’t raced since finishing second in a Keeneland allowance race April 12, is the 3-1 favorite in the wide-open race, with his Larry Jones-trained stablemate Believe in Royalty the 4-1 second choice in a capacity field of a dozen 3-year-olds.
“We just hope he does the best he can,” said Pressley, who owns Kowboy Karma with Jones, who also trained his sire, champion sprinter Kodiak Kowboy. “The good news is I’ve got all my family coming.”
Pressley has had horses with Jones since 2000, and they’ve teamed for some good ones: Grade I winner Wildcat Bettie B, along with Grade 2 winners Ruby’s Reception (Jones’ first graded-stakes winner), Josh’s Madelyn and Payton d’Oro.
Pressley’s daughter, Lesley Nelson, got him hooked up with Jones. Nelson sold tip sheets at the track years ago and got to know Jones’ wife, Cindy.
“I went to auctions with him all the time when nobody knew who he was,” Pressley said of Jones. “It was just me and him. Over the years, it (the stable) kept growing, after he had some good horses. But he picked out all the horses. He bought me a lot of (offspring) of first-crop sires. He did everything. He’s the man, as far as I’m concerned.”
Jones and Pressley bought a filly for $35,000 that the owner named Just Jan after his wife, who endured after a lengthy battle with the chronic disease scleroderma that required a lung transplant and eventually claimed Jan Pressley’s life two years ago. Saturday, the day before the Ellis Park Derby, would have been Jan Pressley’s 63rd birthday.
“Kowboy Karma is her first baby,” Pressley said of Just Jan, adding of the gelding’s name, “Larry is a cowboy, a real one, and we were hoping to have a good horse with some karma. And we thought Larry would like the name, too.”
When Jones moved his base to the East Coast after the 2005 tornado hit Ellis Park, Pressley would go to Delaware to watch his horses. Now that Jones is back, Pressley acknowledges it’s nice for his entire family to be able to come out and watch horses train. That was the case Saturday morning when Pressley, Nelson and Nelson’s daughter, Payton (for whom Payton d’Oro is named) were on the Ellis backside.
“The other thing I find remarkable about the whole thing is that Larry has gotten so successful, but he keeps the guys around him who got him started — like me, who has $20,000-$30,000 horses,” Pressley said. “That’s pretty amazing.
“… I remember Larry saying we thought one time we’d win a race at Turfway Park and have some fun. I never dreamed it would be like this. But I knew Larry could pick those babies, and I was going to take a chance.”
Said Nelson: “That’s been the key to this journey. When he started picking the babies, it was a new ballgame.”
Ruby’s Reception was a $12,000 yearling who earned $365,130 on the track and was sold for $225,000. Josh’s Madelyn cost $10,000 as a yearling, made $480,309 racing and was sold for $1 million. Wildcat Bettie B was a comparatively pricey $42,000 yearling who earned $504,818 and ultimately sold $550,000.
Should Kowboy Karma win the Ellis Park Derby, the winner’s circle presentation likely will have to be moved onto the track to accommodate the crowd.
“That would be fun,” Jones said. “That would be a great problem to have if that was the case.”
Among the crowd would be Henderson Mayor Steve Austin, a long-time friend of Pressley’s and who, coincidentally, will be presenting the trophy to the Ellis Park Derby winner.
Winning wieners: Petey, Daphnie Rose take final qualifying heats
The dachshunds Petey (owner Misty Gill of Mt. Erie, Ill.) and Daphnie Rose (owner Mary Haynes of Owensboro) were the winners of Saturday’s final two qualifying heats for the Aug. 25 Wiener Dog Derby. The top four wieners from the two heats Saturday and two heats Aug. 4 are now in the semifinals, with the top four in each of those races making the Wiener Dog Derby championship, also on Aug. 25, to determine Ellis Park’s top dog, or, you might say, the winningest wiener.
Groupie Doll Day: glass giveaway, Sir Dorset, mini horses, racing
The first 500 through the gates Sunday will receive a commemorative Groupie Doll glass, courtesy of stakes sponsor Kruckemeyer and Cohn jewelry store in Evansville.
The old warrior Sir Dorset, who regularly raced at Ellis Park during a career spanning 1999 through 2008, will return to Ellis to greet fans behind the grandstand. Now 23, Sir Dorset won 16 of 78 career starts, becoming a starter-allowance veteran while specializing in races two miles or more for trainers Earl Murphy and Jami Poole. That includes twice winning by more than 40 lengths at Ellis Park.
Sir Dorset is enjoying a second career as a team member with the non-profit Healing Reins, whose mission is “to assist individuals with special needs in meeting heir full potential through interaction with horses.” Healing Reins is bringing out Sir Dorset and miniature horses to Ellis Park to mingle with the fans Sunday from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. Central. Healing Reins, which offers individual and group therapy sessions, is supported through its partner locations in Henderson: Chad and Stacy Denton’s Blue Moon Stables and William and Peggy Fidler’s Rolling Hills Equestrian Center.
Groupie Doll Stakes (G3)
Post time: Sunday at 4:40 p.m. Central (ninth race)
Purse: $100,000. Distance: mile. Division: Fillies & mares 3 years old & up
pp horse (weight)              jockey/trainer
1. Sense of Bravery (116)       De La Cruz/Cox
2. Jenda’s Agenda (120)       G. Saez/Jones
3. Champagne Problems (120)   Borel/Wilkes
4. Misleading Lady (120)        Rocco/Tomlinson
5. Honey Bunny (120)          Lanerie/Ortiz
6. Pacific Pink (120)           Hernandez/Asmussen
7. Mines and Magic (120)       Camacho/V. Oliver
8. Dutch Parrot (120)          Canchari/VanMeter
9. Torrent (120)               Gilligan/Moquett
10. Pinch Hit (120)             Bridgmohan/Cox
11. Dorodansa (120)           Hill/Gorder
Ellis Park Derby
Post time: Sunday at 4:10 p.m. Central (eighth race)
Purse: $75,000. Distance. mile. Division: 3-year-olds
pp horse (weight)             jockey/trainer
1. Travelling Midas (120)       Gilligan/Arnold
2. Front Door (120)            Bridgmohan/LoPresti
3. Ebben (120)               Borel/Margolis
4. Jacktastic (120)             Landeros/Wilkes
5. Hoonani Road (122)         Hill/Catalano
6. Battle At Sea (122)          Albarado/Maker
7. Kowboy Karma (120)        Hernandez/Jones
8. Limation (120)              McMahon/Asmussen
9. Believe In Royalty (120)       G. Saez/Jones
10. Art Collection (120)          Rocco/Dickey
11. Cutler (120)                Zajac/Jackson
12. Turner Time (120)           Lanerie/Cox

EPD ACTIVITY REPORT

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EPD REPORT

Vanderburgh County Recent Booking Records

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http://www.vanderburghsheriff.com/jail-recent-booking-records.aspx

“READERS FORUM” AUGUST 12, 2018

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We hope that today’s “Readers Forum” 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?

 WHATS ON YOUR MIND TODAY?

Todays“Readers Poll” question is: Do you feel that the IU Medical school will have a major economic impact on downtown Evansville?

Please take time and read our articles entitled “STATEHOUSE Files, CHANNEL 44 NEWS, LAW ENFORCEMENT, READERS POLL, BIRTHDAYS, HOT JOBS” and “LOCAL SPORTS”.  You now are able to subscribe to get the CCO daily.

If you would like to advertise on the CCO please contact us City-CountyObserver@live.com.

FOOTNOTE: City-County Observer Comment Policy.  Be kind to people. No personal attacks or harassment will not be tolerated and shall be removed from our site.

We understand that sometimes people don’t always agree and discussions may become a little heated.  The use of offensive language, insults against commenters will not be tolerated and will be removed from our site

Commentary: Columbine And The World We Have Made

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By John Krull
TheStatehouseFile.com 

LITTLETON, Colorado – The words carved into the stone of the wall at the Columbine Memorial say so much:

“It brought the nation to its knees, but now that we’ve gotten back up how have thing changed; what have we learned?”

I’m at the memorial early in the morning, before the workday has begun.

Set in a circle with the words of the survivors set in stone and the stories of the fallen in bronze, the memorial is in a lovely spot, upon a small rise, tucked between a park, the school’s athletic fields and the school building where horror once stalked. Mountains loom in the distance. The fresh morning sun makes the earth tones of the memorial’s brick and bronze almost glow.

It has been almost 20 years since two troubled students armed with an arsenal opened fire in the cafeteria, library, hallways, and classrooms of Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. They murdered 13 people and injured 24 others before they killed themselves.

Columbine shocked the nation, in part because the school and the community seemed so ordinary.

“I don’t think our school was any different than any other high school in America,” one student remembrance set in the wall says.

That’s why it hit so hard.

If something like this could happen at Columbine High School, it could happen anywhere.

And it has.

In Newtown, Connecticut.

Parkland, Florida.

Santa Fe, Texas.

Noblesville, Indiana.

To name just a few.

Through meticulous reporting, The Washington Post has documented that more than 215,000 American students have experienced a school shooting since Columbine. Nearly a quarter-million young people have experienced what the students at Columbine did. They’ve known the terror of fearing for their lives and, in all too many cases, they’ve learned to grieve for friends and classmates who have fallen.

“A kid my age isn’t supposed to go to that many funerals,” says another student statement embedded in the wall.

As I move through the memorial, two women walk by on a nearby trail. A couple of bike riders stop at the memorial’s entrance to take sips of water. From the athletic fields a few hundred yards away, I can hear young people shouting encouragement and instruction to each other.

Life goes on.

But for the 13 people whose stories are told here in bronze, life didn’t.

It stopped.

The remembrances cast in metal by parents and other family members are wrenching. In some, the anger at the injustice of a child’s death still seethes. In others, the grief has settled into something as lasting as the rock that makes up the memorial.

This hurt won’t go away.

The most moving parts of the remembrances are the simple glimpses of young people discovering themselves, discovering the world around them, finding their place in this life. They were kids, sometimes confused, sometimes assured, but on their way.

If they’d lived, they’d be in their 30s now, many of them likely married with children of their own.

But they didn’t live.

Their stories stopped with a bullet.

We have had many national conversations about tragedies such as Columbine in the days and years since those two troubled students brought hell to an ordinary high school.

Something, though, always stops the discussion.

It’s easy and perhaps comforting to blame the National Rifle Association, the gun lobby and a corrupt political system for preventing us from moving forward, for trapping us in tragedy after tragedy after tragedy.

But the reality is that we could force the conversation, we could make our schools and our streets safer for our young people if we pushed and worked hard enough.

But we haven’t.

“What have we learned?” the words on the wall ask.

As I walk from the memorial back to my car, I pass the members of the Columbine High School cheerleading squad on their way back from early morning practice in the athletic fields nearby.

As they walk by the entrance to the memorial, they don’t glance over. They don’t stop their quiet chatter.

None of these students was alive when the gunshots rang out in the school they attend.

For them, that tragedy is history, a piece of the landscape they walk by every day.

Just another part of the world we have made.

FOOTNOTE: John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism, host of “No Limits” WFYI 90.1 Indianapolis and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

This article was posted by the City-County Observer without opinion, bias or editing.

 

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