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Another Session Behind Us: Business as Usual, I Hope Not

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By CCO StateHouse Editor-Gail Riecken

Another Session Behind Us: Business as Usual, I Hope Not

This might have been one of the most interesting but confusing and confounding ends of a session I can remember.

The Indy Star has Speaker of the House Brian Bosma and Senate President Pro Tem David Long publicly pointing fingers at each other’s caucus; Senator Long singling out Rep Ed Soliday as having “a meltdown” and causing much of the session’s self-destruction; and the Governor trying a last-minute effort to extend the session to save his bills and the legislature’s image.

House Minority Leader Terry Goodin couldn’t have said it better. “Instead of fixing DCS, we passed a bill that said you could buy alcohol at Walmart on Sunday”(the Statehouse File).

A better comment could not have been made. The sadness, though, is the issues that matter to many of us failed to get any traction and in some cases no discussion at all— issues like hate crimes legislation, raising the minimum wage, a redistricting compromise and a step forward addressing problems at the Department of Child Services (DCS).

Maybe this is the session legislators on both sides of the aisle will always regret. However, it is only one session, and those issues many of us think are important can and should be addressed at the next one.

Does the legislature lack leadership? Is the outcome solely the challenge of an inevitable arrogance that is guaranteed by supermajorities in both Houses?

Whatever the reason, the signature test will be the elections of 2018 and what a new State legislature will do for you and me in the future.

Eagles Drop Series Finale To Hawks, 6-2

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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Southern Indiana baseball team committed two errors in a four-run seventh inning and lost to the 23rd-ranked Quincy University, 6-2, Sunday afternoon at the USI Baseball Field. USI watches its record go to 7-9 overall, while Quincy goes to 11-6 in 2018.

For the third-straight game, the Screaming Eagles took the lead in the first inning. Senior designated hitter Drake McNamara (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) continued to have the hot bat, hitting his second home run in as many day, a two-run blast to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead.

USI maintained the 2-0 advantage until the fourth when Quincy cut the lead in half with a single run. The Hawks would overtake the Eagles in the seventh when they scored four times with the aid of two USI errors with two outs and flew into the lead, 5-2.

Quincy would add another tally in the ninth to seal the 6-2 win.

On the mound, junior right-hander Austin Krizan (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) started and took the loss for the Eagles. Krizan (1-2) allowed five runs, two earned, on nine hits, while striking out three in seven tough innings.

The next action for the Eagles is on the road when they travel to St. Louis, Missouri, to visit the University of Missouri-St. Louis Wednesday for a 3 p.m. match-up. USI leads the all-time series with UMSL, 52-42, after taking both games last season (win at home 6-5; win on the road 5-3).

Following the road trip to UMSL, the Eagles return to the USI Baseball Field for a 13-game homestand between Mach 24 and April 11. The start of the homestand also is the beginning of the 2018 GLVC slate when the University of Illinois Springfield comes to Evansville for a four-game slate on March 24-25.

COA Upholds Denial Of Race-Based Batson Challenge

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Olivia Covington for www.theindianalawyer.com

A Madison County man who alleged the state challenged a potential juror for race-based reasons has lost his appeal, with the Indiana Court of Appeals finding the record of the robbery trial does not support the argument that the juror was released because he was black.

In Steven Wade Childress v. the State of Indiana, 48A02-1707-CR-1658, Steven Childress, and two companions tricked Darren Sloss into coming to visit them, then attacked him at gunpoint when he arrived. Sloss was beaten and pistol-whipped, saw Childress rummaging through his car, and was eventually robbed of $200 that was in his wallet.

Sloss reported the robbery, and Childress was charged with Level 3 felony armed robbery. After voir dire, the state made a peremptory challenge to Potential Juror 8, which Childress challenged with a Batson claim on the basis that Potential Juror 8 was the only remaining black juror.

The prosecutor, however, noted that when Potential Juror 8 was asked what reasonable doubt meant, the juror responded with “no doubt.” Though Potential Juror 2 gave a similar answer and was not dismissed, that juror eventually changed her response, while Potential Juror 8 did not, the prosecutor said. The Madison Circuit Court agreed and denied the Batson challenge, and Childress was found guilty as charged.

The Indiana Court of Appeals upheld the denial of Childress’ Batson challenge in a Friday opinion, with Judge Terry Crone initially noting the trial transcript was incomplete. Many portions of the transcript were labeled “indiscernible,” Crone said, while each juror was identified as “prospective juror,” making it impossible to determine which potential juror made which statements.

Though it was incomplete, Crone went on to write that the transcript did show that neither defense counsel nor the trial court disputed the prosecutor’s claim that Potential Juror 8 thought “reasonable doubt” meant “no doubt.” Thus, the appellate court determined Childress failed to prove the prosecutor’s alleged misrepresentation of the potential juror’s answer undermined his race-neutral reasoning for the peremptory challenge.

The court then found the prosecutor was not required to re-examine Potential Juror 8 after he gave his questionable answer. Finally, the panel determined that because Potential Juror 2 eventually changed her answer to the proper meaning of “reasonable doubt” – which Potential Juror 8 did not do – it could not be said that the challenge to Potential Juror 8 was racially motivated.

Adopt A Pet

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Chico is a male Boxer. He’s about 5 years old. Like most boxers, he is very silly & sweet! His $110 adoption fee includes his neuter, microchip, vaccines, and more. Contact Vanderburgh Humane at (812) 426-2563 or adoptions@vhslifesaver.org for details!

STEPHEN HAWKING

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Eagles Snap Seven Game Losing Streak

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The University of Southern Indiana women’s tennis team broke a seven-game losing streak over the weekend with a 7-2 route of Purdue University Northwest on Sunday after a 7-0 loss to Butler University on Saturday.

USI vs. Butler

The Eagles’ (6-8, 0-0 GLVC) first stop was in Indianapolis where it took on Division I opponent Butler to start the weekend, falling 0-7.

USI vs. Purdue Northwest

Fast-forwarding to Sunday, USI went further north to Griffith, Indiana to face Purdue Northwest. The Eagles swept the Pride in all three doubles matches first starting with senior Jennifer Mizikar (Batavia, Illinois) and freshman Lauryn Thompson (Evansville, Indiana) winning 8-1 at the number three slot.

The duo of freshman Anna McDonald (Tallahassee, Florida) and sophomore Alex Jamison (Floyd Knobs, Indiana) came next with an 8-3 win of their own. The final doubles point came at the number one position with sophomore Lauren Hambrock (Terre Haute, Indiana) and senior Kelsey Shipman (Olney, Illinois) in a 8-5 final tally.

Mizikar then went on to start off the singles competition right for USI in the number five position, defeating her opponent 6-1, 6-2. Jamison followed up at the number four spot winning 6-2, 6-1.  Hambrock then secured the number one singles win with a 6-3, 6-3 performance. The seventh, and final, USI point was capped by Shipman who won 6-3, 6-4 at the number two spot.

The Eagles will be on the road yet again for its next match on Wednesday, March 21 at 1:30 p.m. where the University of Missouri-St Louis awaits.

 

Governor Eric Holcomb to sign computer science bill on USI campus

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Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, USI President Dr. Linda L. M. Bennett, Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Jennifer McCormick, members of the Indiana General Assembly

Bill signing for SEA 172

2 p.m. Tuesday, March 20

 University of Southern Indiana Decision Support and Negotiations Lab, located in room 1004 of the Business and Engineering Center on the USI campus. A map of campus highlighting the Business and Engineering Center can be found at USI.edu/map.

SEA 172: Establishes the Next Level Computer Science Grant Program and the Next Level Computer Science Fund to award grants, after June 30, 2019, to eligible entities to implement teacher professional development programs for training in teaching computer science, and requires, beginning July 1, 2021, each public school to include computer science courses as electives and as part of the science curriculum from kindergarten through grade 12.

 

Lunch With The Aces Returns In April

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Popular Event Has Been A Huge Success

 EVANSVILLE, Ind. – One of the most popular yearly events for the University of Evansville athletics department returns in 2018 as Lunch with the Aces will be held on Friday, April 13 at Meeks Family Fieldhouse on the UE campus.

Highlighting the day is keynote speaker Scott Shreffler.  The 1993 graduate of UE was inducted into the Purple Aces Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004 and had jersey retired in January 2018.

The event goes from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. on the 13th.  Early registration is $30 while seats will be $35 after April 9 and at the door.  Corporate tables cost $350 and include eight seats plus two student-athletes seated at your table.  There is also the option to provide lunch for a student-athlete for just $10.

Marx BBQ will once again cater the event with food being available for the duration.  The program, which includes a video presentation and the keynote speaker, begins at 12:30 p.m.  A student-athlete will be seated at each table.

A half post and silent auction will provide additional opportunities for the lunch.

 

Spring season hits midway point for Evansville golf in Tennessee

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The University of Evansville men’s and women’s golf teams hit the midway point of their spring seasons at the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate at Sevierville Golf Club in Sevierville, Tenn. on Sunday through Tuesday.

The Aces’ men earned a top 10 finish last time out two weeks ago at the Lonnie Barton Invitational. After carding a team-score of 306 in the first round, the Purple Aces recorded a 334 on the second day for a team total of 640. All 14 teams in the invitational field struggled in the second round as none of the competing teams improved their opening round score in their second round. Leading the way for the Aces were Tyler Gray and Noah Reese who each finished the two-day tournament with totals of 158. Gray opened the invitational with a 74 before recording an 84 on the second day, while Reese tallied a 77 on Monday, following up with an 81 in the final round.

For Evansville’s women, the Aces utilized an improvement on the second day of the tournament to grab a fifth-place team finish. The Purple Aces opened the tournament with a 330 in the first round, but bounced back with a 317 on the second day to push Evansville into the top five with a team-total of 647. Pacing the Aces was Madison Chaney who moved up three spots on the final day with a second-round 78 for an invitational total of 157 (79-78). For her efforts, Chaney was named Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Golfer of the Week. Following Chaney was Sophia Rohleder who finished in a tie for 12th as Rohleder carded a 79 and an 80 for a total of 159. Just a stroke behind Rohleder, Minka Gill carded a two-day total of 160 (84-76) with an eight-stroke improvement in the final round to move Gill into a tie for 17th. Following Gill were Lexie Sollman and Giulia Mallman who finished within a pair of strokes of one another. Sollman carded a 10-stroke improvement on the final day as Sollman finished in a tie for 49th with a two-round total of 176 while Mallman finished in a tie for 54th with a total of 178 (88-90).

The Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate features a strong field on both the men’s and women’s side. Joining the Aces men in the field are Austin Peay, Belmont, Carson-Newman, Detroit Mercy, Eastern Kentucky,  Lincoln Memorial, Marshall, Maryville College, Montreat College, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech, UT Martin, and Wright State. On the women’s side, Evansville will compete against Belmont, Carson Newman, Dalton State, Jacksonville State, Marshall, Radford, Tennessee, Tennessee State, and Tennessee Tech. The intercollegiate features three 18 hole rounds spread out across Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.

Softball drops both games of MVC doubleheader

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Aces look to win finale on Sunday

Saturday marked the beginning of the Missouri Valley Conference schedule for the University of Evansville softball team as the Purple Aces dropped a pair of home contests to Drake at Cooper Stadium.

Game one went to the Bulldogs (18-9, 2-0 MVC) by a 3-0 final before they picked up a 6-3 win over Evansville (7-17, 0-2 MVC) in game two.

Bulldog starter Nicole Newman was dominant, giving up two hits while striking out eight in the complete game shutout to open the day.  Morgan Florey was also strong, giving up three runs, two earned, on three hits.  She struck out eight and walked seven.

In the top half of the second, Taryn Pena delivered the first run of the game on a double to left.  The Bulldogs also scored a run on a bases loaded walk to take a 2-0 lead.  Brittany Hay recorded the first hit of the day for the Purple Aces, hitting a leadoff double, but could not make it past second base.  Florey notched the Aces’ other single in the seventh, but Drake was able to finish with the 3-0 victory.

Drake looked to be primed for a big inning to start game two as they loaded up the bases with no outs.  UE record the first out when Elyse Hickey threw a runner out at home before the next batter fouled out.  Just when it looked like the Aces would get out of the inning unscathed, Sarah Maddox singled to right to plate the first two runs.

After being held scoreless in game one, the Aces rebounded to with two runs in their half of the first.  Eryn Gould led off with a single before Elyse Hickey reached on a walk.  Next up was Morgan Florey, who delivered a single to left to score Gould.  Hickey would also score on a Bulldog error to tie it up.  Drake would retake the lead with an unearned run in the second.

Between the third and fifth innings, the Bulldogs threatened, leaving seven runners on base, but Ashleigh Downing was able to keep them off the board.  Her work was pivotal as UE had a chance to tie it up in the fifth.  Lindsay Renneisen reached on a double and attempt to score on a 2-out single by Downing.  A great throw from left field saw her get tagged out at the plate as DU protected its 3-2 lead.

The top of the seventh saw the Bulldogs put the icing on the cake with three more runs.  UE looked to rally with a run in the seventh on a Downing RBI single, but Drake finished the 6-3 win.  Tomorrow, the teams will play the series finale at 11 a.m. inside Cooper Stadium.

 

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