USI Softball Ready For Busy Week
University of Southern Indiana Softball begins the PFX Spring Games Saturday at 8 a.m. (CST) when it takes on Midwest Region foe Cedarville University in Clermont, Florida. The No. 13 Screaming Eagles also play the University of Minnesota Duluth Saturday at 10:30 a.m.
USI (6-4), which slipped four spots in the latest NFCA Top 25 Coaches’ Poll, plays 10 games at the Spring Games.
The Eagles also have a Top 25 battle with No. 19 Winona State University Sunday at noon as well as a meeting with Holy Family University Sunday at 4:30 p.m.
Monday’s slate has the Eagles facing Wilmington University at 10:30 a.m. and Wayne State College (Neb.) at 1 p.m.
Following a one-day break, USI gets a rematch with top-ranked and defending national champion Minnesota State University Mankato as well as a bout with LIU Post Wednesday at 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., respectively.
The Eagles suffered a pair of setbacks to the Mavericks in 2017, including a 5-0 loss in the NCAA II Championship Series in Salem, Virginia.
USI completes the Spring Games Thursday when they take on Midwest Region foes University of Findlay at 8 a.m. and Grand Valley State University at 10:30 a.m.
The Eagles defeated Grand Valley State twice last year, including a 5-1 win in the NCAA II Midwest Region Tournament last year.
USI concludes its busy stretch of games March 11 (Noon) when it hosts a doubleheader against Maryville University in its Great Lakes Valley Conference and home-openers at the USI Softball Field.
Sullivan: House Supports Legislation To Provide Students Career And College Planning Resources
The Indiana House of Representatives voted in favor of legislation sponsored by State Rep. Holli Sullivan (R-Evansville) that would incorporate interdisciplinary employability skills standards into every school corporation’s curriculum.
According to a 2018 Indiana Chamber survey, 47 percent of employers reported having jobs unfilled because applicants are under-qualified. This legislation would better ensure students gain valuable interpersonal and workforce skills to be more successful in their post-secondary plans.
“There are currently more than 96,000 job openings statewide, and Hoosier employers are having a hard time finding candidates to fill these positions,†Sullivan said. “Ensuring students have universal skills like communication, problem solving, teamwork and workplace etiquette will make them more employable and prepared for life after high school.â€
Sullivan said the General Assembly is working toward a long-term solution to Indiana’s workforce crisis, and this bill addresses one of its many aspects.
Appellate Court Rejects Constitutional Challenge To Synthetic Drug Lookalike Statutes
Olivia Covington for wwwtheindianalawyer.com
The Indiana Court of Appeals has struck down a constitutional challenge to the state’s synthetic drug lookalike statutes, finding the statutes cannot be considered void as applied to a Tippecanoe County drug case.
In November 2016, Lafayette Police Officer Matthew Meeks attempted to stop a vehicle driven by Tracy VanWienen for failure to have a license plate, but VanWienen continued to drive for four blocks. As she was driving, Meeks could see her passenger, later identified as Gary Yoakum, making “furtive†movements. Spice was later discovered in the vehicle and on Yoakum’s pants, and a glass pipe found in the vehicle tested positive for methamphetamine.
Yoakum was then arrested and charged with Class A misdemeanor possession of a synthetic drug or synthetic drug lookalike substance and Class C misdemeanor possession of paraphernalia. Yoakum testified at trial that the drugs belonged to VanWienen, not him, but a jury found him guilty and sentenced him to 365 days for the Class A misdemeanor and 60 days for the Class C misdemeanor.
Yoakum appealed in Gary W. Yoakum v. State of Indiana, 79A02-1706-CR-1309, arguing Indiana’s synthetic drug lookalike statutes — Indiana Code section 35-48-4-11.5 and 35-31.5-2-321.5 — are unconstitutionally vague as applied to him. However, Yoakum failed to raise his constitutional challenge to the Tippecanoe Superior Court, so Indiana Court of Appeals Judge Michael Barnes wrote in a Friday opinion that the issue was waived.
Waiver notwithstanding, Barnes said the statutes are not unconstitutionally void because the issue here was whether the drugs belonged to Yoakum or VanWienen. Thus, Yoakum’s argument that the statutes do not give sufficient notice of what constitutes a synthetic drug lookalike was not relevant to the inquiry, so the statutes are not void for vagueness in his case.
Yoakum also argued there was insufficient evidence to sustain his Class A misdemeanor conviction, claiming there was no scientific testing to prove the substance found in the vehicle was a synthetic drug lookalike. But the appellate court rejected that argument considering trial testimony that officers smelled spice in the vehicle and a statement from Yoakum’s own attorney confirming the substance was spice.
Finally, Yoakum challenged his one-year sentence as inappropriate, but the appellate court upheld the sentence in the Friday opinion. Acknowledging that Yoakum’s offense was not “egregious,†Barnes nevertheless pointed to his extensive criminal history to support his sentence.
Grau Named All-Midwest Region, Looks To Defend Championship
University of Southern Indiana Men’s Track & Field senior Bastian Grau (Höchstadt, Germany) will have a chance to defend his national championship in the mile next weekend at the NCAA II Indoor Championships in Pittsburg, Kansas.
Grau qualified for the championships with a provisional time of four minutes, 4.51 seconds, when he won the Arkansas Qualifier. His time ranks eighth of the 16 runners competing.
At last year’s championships, Grau won the title in 4:05.70.
Grau’s time also earned him All-Midwest Region honors from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. His time was second fastest in the Midwest Region.
The senior earned second team All-Great Lakes Valley Conference after finishing second at the GLVC Championships in the mile last weekend, as teammate sophomore Javan Winders (Mansfield, Tennessee) narrowly beat him in a photo finish. He was also second team All-GLVC in the distance medley relay.
The preliminaries for the mile will be March 9 at 3:30 p.m. with the finals scheduled for March 10 at 5:40 p.m. The championships will be streamed live on NCAA.com.
Noe Leads Aces With 17 As Evansville Is Downed By Bears
 Trio of Aces combine for 40 of Aces’ 51 points
The University of Evansville women’s basketball team battled tough in the early going, but fell to Missouri State, 97-51, on the road Thursday night in Springfield, Mo.
“The effort was somewhat there, but it was our game plan and it was doing what they were asked to do that wasn’t there and it was putting us in some really bad situations defensively,” said Aces head coach Matt Ruffing. “We made some shots in the first half and to be down the way we were shooting 45% from the field and 40% from three, that’s tough to swallow as a coach. The defensive effort wasn’t there and our shots weren’t falling in the second half and that’s why it was 97-51.”
Graduate guard Hannah Noe returned to double-figures for the first time in eight games with a team-high 17 points, including four three-pointers. Also scoring double-digits for Evansville were sophomore guard Macie Lively, who finished with 12 points, three rebounds, and two assists, and junior guard Kerri Gasper with 11 points and a rebound. Leading the Bears was Liza Fruendt, who tallied a game-high 28 points to go along with five assists, four rebounds, and a steal.
Evansville got the scoring by way of a triple from Noe on the Aces’ first possession as UE built an 8-7 lead at Missouri State with 4:03 left in the opening quarter. The Bears’ offense got going in the final minutes of the first period as Missouri State closed the frame on an 11-4 run to take an 18-12 lead after the first 10 minutes of action.
In the second quarter, Missouri State opened with a 13-5 run that increased its advantage to 14 at 31-17 with 6:02 remaining in the quarter. The Aces though showcased plenty of fight, clawing back within eight with an 11-6 run that closed the gap to 37-29 heading into the final minutes of the period. To close the quarter, the Bears scored 12 of the last 18 points of the quarter, including a 10-0 run, as Missouri State took a 49-35 lead into the halftime break.
IS IT TRUE MARCH 2, 2018
We hope that today’s “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?
IS IT TRUE that City Council At-Large member Dr. Dan Adams (D) and 4th Ward Council member Connie Robinson will be presenting a city ordinance creating additional regulations for noise control within the city limits at the March 12, 2018, City Council meeting? …at first glance, this proposed City ordinance seems not only to be overreaching but unnecessary?  … we wonder who encouraged the sponsor’s to draw this proposed ordinance up in the first place? …this proposed ordinance addresses “Decibels” in detail by stating that the magnitude of the change in the sound intensity or sound pressure level is twenty times the logarithm of their ratio.  …the sponsors also want the term “decibel” to be consistent with the definition and use by the American National Standards Institute?
IS IT TRUE, to be honest, City Council would be better served if they would spend their time in looking for ways to aggressively fight crime and our out of control drugs problems in Evansville?  …or discussing ways to find creative and affordable ways to reduce the out of control city employee health care costs?
IS IT TRUE maybe City Council would be more productive if they would look for ways to stop political pork barrel projects or political patronage hiring practices in city government?
IS IT TRUEÂ it wouldn’t hurt if City Council would focus on correcting the major pothole problems currently looming over the City of Evansville or ways to correct the poor maintenance problems at our city parks? Â … or maybe City Council time would be better spent if they would look for ways to make our Zoo more profitable?
IS IT TRUE we predict when the sponsors of this proposed noise ordinance present their proposal to the full council we shall see a lively debate among council members?  …we also expect this proposed ordinance will be vigorously opposed by the people in the food and entertainment business? …it looks like someone in local government is about ready to open a can of political worms?
IS IT TRUE we certainly didn’t expect members of Council to style a city ordinance addressing “Decibels” during the economically challenging times like these?
IS IT TRUE that the first day of games in both the men’s and women’s OVC basketball tournament at Ford Center is in the history books and the attendance was lackluster?…in the men’s opening bracket with two games played a whopping 654 people showed up to watch?…if they count players, coaches, cheerleaders, and arena workers, the paid attendance numbers would barely be high enough to say that the players families actually showed up to watch?…in the girls session where local favorite Murray State lost to Belmont, even fewer people showed up to watch?…only 587 people officially attended the first girls session that included two games?…being a hometown favorite with a decent alumni base didn’t help a bit?…if the attendance doesn’t greatly improve by the weekend this may be the first and last time for this tournament to be held in Evansville if attendance is a primary goal of the sponsors of this event?
Todays “Readers Poll” question is: Do you feel that City Council has more pressing issues than worrying about amending the current noise ordinance?
Please take time and read our articles entitled “STATEHOUSE Files, CHANNEL 44 NEWS, LAW ENFORCEMENT, READERS POLL, BIRTHDAYS, HOT JOBS†and “LOCAL SPORTSâ€.  You now are able to subscribe to get the CCO daily.
If you would like to advertise on the CCO please contact us CityCountyObserver@live.com.
DCS Releases Second Evaluation Progress Report
MARCH 1ST, 2018Â 
TYRONE MORRISÂ INDIANA
One top concern the number of attorneys DCS has on staff to deal with thousands of open cases.
The assessment teams suggest having DCS attorneys spread out over too many jurisdictions can block kids from getting permanent stability in their lives.
The consultants are also looking into whether the people charged with protecting the state`s most at-risk children (e.g. the caseworkers and supervisors) have the right qualifications.
Consultant Sue Steib says, “We are just hearing some early input that people question whether that`s sufficient preparations for the nature of the work. We`ll be looking in more detail at the training they`re providing once they`re hired.â€
The assessment group still needs to talk to former Director Mary Beth Bonaventura, whose scathing resignation letter about the agency led Governor Holcomb to call for this assessment.
The full report is due to the governor`s office in June.
