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HOT JOBS
Otters fall in Saturday series opener
AUGUSTA, NJ. – The Evansville Otters dropped the series opener Saturday against the Sussex County Miners 8-3 at Skylands Stadium. A rainout yesterday pushed the first game of the set back to tonight while the makeup date for the missed contest is tabbed for tomorrow.
The Otters (11-20) fought back once in the game, but when the Miners (11-19) took their second lead of the game, it was also the final lead change.
Sussex jumped on the board first in the second inning with a trio of runs, highlighted by three RBI singles.
Evansville answered in the fourth, matching the Miners score.
After David Mendham led off with an error, Randy Bednar singled and Pavin Parks roped an RBI double to right-center field which plated a run. Jomar Reyes notched a fielder’s choice RBI, and Anthony Clarco tied the game at three with a deep sacrifice fly to center.
The knotted game was broken up in the fifth inning. After a two out walk, Braden Scott (0-5) surrendered a two-run homer to make it 5-3. The Miners added another three runs in the eighth inning to finalize the scoring.
The Evansville southpaw starter tossed in six full innings. He gave up five runs on six hits with eight strikeouts and four walks. Grif Hughes came out of the bullpen and was the only Otter to not give up a run, striking out three and allowing just a hit-by-pitch in one inning.
Offensively, the Otters tallied six hits. Parks and Bednar each registered two.
Evansville will continue their series against the Sussex County Miners tomorrow in a twin bill. The first pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. CT. Coverage is available on the Otters Digital Network and FloBaseball.
Henriques selected as USI Executive Director for Student Success
Dr. David Henriques has been selected as Executive Director for Student Success, effective Monday, July 1. He will report to Troy Miller, Vice President for Strategic Enrollment Management.
In this role, Henriques will provide strategic leadership and vision for University Division to enhance student success, retention and graduation rates at USI. He will lead a team of full-time staff, senior administrative assistants, graduate assistants and undergraduate student employees in the Center for Exploring Majors, the four undergraduate advising centers, Academic Skills and Career Counseling.
Henriques served in various faculty and administrative roles supporting student equity, transition, belonging, success, persistence and retention, and campus-wide academic advising programs. He has significant experience in advocating for, implementing, designing and teaching within first-year experience programs. Additionally, he has led programs for undeclared students, placement testing, career exploration and academic coaching.
Most recently, Henriques served as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Academic Advisement and Student Development at Millersville University of Pennsylvania. He also served as the Coordinator of the Exploratory Program and the Director of Academic Advising. His research interests include academic advising, student resiliency, learning communities, first-year and first-generation students, student-athletes and programs for undecided/undeclared students.
Henriques earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology and his master’s degree in clinical psychology, both from Millersville University of Pennsylvania. He also holds a master’s degree in adult education and a doctorate in higher education administration, both from Widener University. In his free time, he gardens, reads about wellness and self-improvement, frequents the gym and spends time with his four children.
IU Swimming & Diving: Olympic Team Trials Updates
Three Hoosiers advanced from Saturday’s preliminary heats and will swim again during the evening session.
- Josh Matheny posted the second-best time in the 100-meter breaststroke with a 59.34, just one tenth of a second behind top qualifier Nic Fink.
- Despite coming in as the No. 15 seed, Anna Peplowski finished tied-for-seventh in the 400-meter freestyle heats to sneak into the final.
- Cody Miller also qualified for the 100 breast semifinal, placing 12th in 1:00.45.
Results
Women’s 400-meter freestyle
- T7. Anna Peplowski – 4:09.87 (Qualified for Final, Personal Best)
Men’s 100-meter breaststroke
- 2. Josh Matheny – 59.34 (Qualified for Semifinal)
- 12. Cody Miller – 1:00.45 (Qualified for Semifinal)
- 24. Jassen Yep – 1:01.15
- 25. Maxwell Reich – 1:01.18
- T39. Luke Barr – 1:01.95 (Personal Best)
Men’s 400-meter freestyle
- 17. Michael Brinegar – 3:51.53 (Personal Best)
- 20. Mason Carlton – 3:55.92
Next Session: Saturday, June 15 Finals (7:45 p.m. ET)
- Women’s 400-meter freestyle final (Peplowski)
- Men’s 100-meter breaststroke final (Matheny, Miller)
Indiana Swimmers, Divers to Compete at U.S. Olympic Team Trials
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Forty athletes will represent the Indiana swimming and diving program at U.S. Olympic Team Trials between June 15-23, seeking qualification for the 2024 Paris Games.
Information
Thirty-one Hoosiers will compete in the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials in Indianapolis, June 15-23. For the first time ever, the event will be staged on a football field as Lucas Oil Stadium plays host to the qualifying event. Tickets are on sale here.
Indiana University is the proud sponsor of Student Night at swim trials on Thursday, June 20, as fans with a valid student ID can enjoy discounted prices at concession stands.
Nine divers are set to participate in the U.S. Olympic Diving Trials, running June 17-23 in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Fans can watch both meets on NBC platforms. Peacock will stream preliminaries, while final sessions are available both on NBC and Peacock.
What to Watch For
Indiana’s list of participants features a mix of former Olympians and first-time hopefuls. Swimmers Lilly King and Blake Pieroni and diver Jessica Parratto can book their tickets to a third Olympics, while swimmers Michael Brinegar and Cody Miller and diver Andrew Capobianco have the chance to punch their ticket for a second time.
A five-time Olympic medalist, King enters the 2024 trials as the No. 1 seed in the 100-meter breaststroke – with the only seed time under 1:05 – and the No. 2 seed in the 200-meter breaststroke. Current IU swimmer Josh Matheny is the No. 2 and 3 seeds in the same events, respectively. Indiana filled the men’s breaststroke events, totaling 11 entries between the two distances. Among the group, 2016 Olympian Cody Miller is the No. 6 seed in the 100 breast.
Joining Matheny as a heavy contender for a first-time Olympic berth, Anna Peplowski will look to build on her freestyle momentum after surging during the collegiate season. Peplowski was a medalist in the 200-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle events at the NCAA Championships and will have her best shot as the No. 7 seed in the 200-meter freestyle – set to be one of the meet’s most competitive event.
The top two in each swimming event are expected to make the Olympic team individually, should they also have hit an Olympic qualifying time standard. Up to the top six are expected to make the team in the 100m and 200m freestyles for relays.
In Knoxville, Capobianco and Parratto will return to compete in the events that they earned medals from. A silver medalist in Tokyo with fellow Hoosier Michael Hixon, Capobianco will dive from the 3-meter springboard alongside a different IU teammate in Quinn Henninger. The pair competed together at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in April Capobianco will also challenge in the individual 3-meter event against Henninger and Carson Tyler.
Tyler, the NCAA Champion in the 3-meter and platform diving events this spring, will compete in both events individually at trials. The rising senior was named the CSCAA Diver of the Year, Big Ten Diver of the Year and Big Ten Diver of the Championships after a dominant season on the boards.
Parratto will once again pair up with Arizona grad Delaney Schnell in the synchronized 10-meter event, from which the duo earned silver in Tokyo. More recently, Parratto and Schnell took bronze at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships. Parratto came out of retirement to pursue a third Olympics.
The winning team in the three synchro events makes the Olympic team. Individually, the top two men and top two women in springboard make the team. In platform, the men’s and women’s winners make the team.
Hoosiers at Trials
The following list includes the 40 athletes representing Indiana University at Olympic Trials.
U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials (31): Toby Barnett, Luke Barr, Michael Brinegar, Finn Brooks, Brendan Burns, Mason Carlton, Kabria Chapman, Mariah Denigan, Mya DeWitt, Tristan DeWitt, Michael Eastman, Anna Freed, Elyse Heiser, Harry Herrera, Lilly King, Josh Matheny, Owen McDonald, Kacey McKenna, Cody Miller, Kristina Paegle, Anna Peplowski, Blake Pieroni, Lucas Piunti, Maxwell Reich, Drew Reiter, Ella Ristic, Dylan Smiley, Reese Tiltmann, Ashley Turak, Gavin Wight, Jassen Yep
To see which events these Hoosiers are in, see the entry list.
U.S. Olympic Diving Trials (9): Andrew Capobianco, Anne Fowler, Kristen Hayden, Quinn Henninger, Jessica Parratto, Ella Roselli, Carson Tyler, Maxwell Weinrich, Lily Witte
To see which events these Hoosiers are in, see the entry list.
Already Qualified
Four Indiana swimmers have already punched their tickets to Paris. Mariah Denigan will represent Team USA in open water swimming and will also compete at U.S. Olympic Swim Trials in the 800-meter and 1,500-meter freestyle events. International athletes Tomer Frankel (Israel), Rafael Miroslaw (Germany) and Kai van Westering (Netherlands) have qualified for their respective countries.
Hoosier Olympic History
Few universities, or even nations can match Indiana University’s Olympic record. Indiana boasts 241 total Olympic berths, representing 26 countries. On 18 occasions, Olympic coaches have come from Indiana.
The Indiana University athlete medal count is at 121 including 60 gold, 23 silver and 38 bronze after the 2020 Tokyo Games. The Hoosiers have earned a medal at every Olympic Games they have competed in except 2004. The most productive year was 1968, with 17 medals for IU competitors in Mexico City.
UE’S SHALLENBERGER NAMED ABCA/RAWLINGS THIRD-TEAM ALL-AMERICA
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Evansville graduate outfielder Mark Shallenberger (St. Louis, Mo./Priory) earned one of the nation’s top baseball honors on Friday, as he was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings Third-Team All-America squad in a vote of collegiate head coaches. He is the first Purple Ace to be named to the ABCA/Rawlings All-America squad since outfielder Kevin Kaczmarski led the nation in hitting in 2015.
Shallenberger earned All-America honors after a season in which he earned first-team all-Missouri Valley Conference honors and Greenville (N.C.) Regional All-Tournament team honors for the Purple Aces. He currently ranks in the NCAA’s Top 100 in 11 different offensive categories, including ranking 13th nationally in on-base percentage, a category he has ranked among the nation’s top 25 in for much of the season. Shallenberger set program records for both runs scored (72) and hit-by-pitches (28), while posting the second-highest single-season hit total in UE history with 91.
Overall, Shallenberger hit a team-best .374 with a team-high 21 doubles, two triples, 17 home runs and 64 RBI. He hit arguably the biggest home run in UE baseball history with a game-winning three-run home run in UE’s 6-5 victory over East Carolina to win the Greenville (N.C.) Regional and advance Evansville to its first-ever NCAA Tournament Super Regional appearance.
Shallenberger now joins an elite fraternity of UE players to earn ABCA/Rawlings All-America honors, as he is just the ninth Purple Ace to earn the award. The previous eight UE players to earn ABCA/Rawlings All-America honors includes Andy Benes (1988), John MacCauley (1991), Marty Watson (1993), Jamey Carroll (1996), Steve Obenchain (2002), Cody Fick (2011), Kyle Freeland (2014), and Kevin Kaczmarski (2015).
Evansville went 39-26 this season, advancing on to the 2024 NCAA Tournament by winning the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title. The Purple Aces won the Greenville (N.C.) Regional Tournament and forced #1 national seed Tennessee to the “if necessary” game three of the Knoxville Super Regional in UE’s first-ever NCAA Super Regional Tournament appearance.
Gov. Holcomb concludes economic development trip to Belgium, France and Netherlands strengthening relationships with key industry partners
| INDIANAPOLIS –Governor Eric J. Holcomb and First Lady Janet Holcomb returned late last week from an economic development trip to Belgium, France and the Netherlands. The Governor and First Lady were joined by Indiana Secretary of Commerce David Rosenberg and a delegation from the Applied Research Institute (ARI) in Belgium. While abroad, Gov. Holcomb and the delegation met with government officials, representatives from the semiconductor industry and leaders in energy. Gov. Holcomb paid respects to members of the armed forces during a visit to Normandy and traveled to Utah Beach with a Hoosier D-Day veteran. | ||
After departing Belgium, Gov. Holcomb and the delegation traveled to France to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day. The Governor participated in a ceremony at Normandy and visited Utah Beach with a fellow Hoosier and veteran. This was Governor’s third international economic development trip of 2024, his fifth visit to France , third to Belgium and first visit to the Netherlands.
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Gov. Holcomb and the Indiana delegation kicked off the trip in the Netherlands, meeting with U.S. and Dutch government officials to discuss opportunities for growth and partnership between the two regions. The delegation met with U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands Shefali Razdan Duggal as well as Dutch officials Tjerk Opmeer, acting director general for business and innovation at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, and Michiel Sweers, director general for external economic relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Once in Belgium, Gov. Holcomb and the Indiana delegation toured Redwire Space’s Belgium facility. Last week, Redwire 
Gov. Holcomb and the delegation also met with imec, a world-leading research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies. In 2023, imec signed an MOU with the state of Indiana and Purdue University, advancing research and development in Indiana’s semiconductor sector. In December 2023, imec 
The Indiana delegation also visited the Port of Antwerp-Bruges to meet with leadership and discuss opportunities to grow partnerships focused on logistics, trade and energy to enhance the state’s global trade capabilities.
The Governor met with leadership of Voka – Kamer van Koophandel Antwerpen-Waasland, an Antwerp-based chamber of commerce, including CEO Luc Luwel, to discuss Indiana’s and Belgium’s shared focus on furthering innovations in life sciences, energy and semiconductors.
Gov. Holcomb and the Indiana delegation met with leadership of the country’s Flanders region, including Jan Jambon, Vlaams Minister-President, as well as representatives of the region’s industry to discuss how Indiana and Flanders can work together to create greater cooperation for a more prosperous economic future. The meeting was a continuation of a memorandum of understanding signed between Indiana and Flanders in December 2023.
Gov. Holcomb and the delegation also met with representatives of the European Union, which is headquartered in Brussels, including Belén Martinez Carbonell, deputy secretary general for economic and global issues at the European Union External Action Services.
CenterPoint Energy awards nearly $230,000 in grants to communities to fund safety-related projects
CenterPoint has awarded more than $3.25 million in grants since the Community Safety Grants Program launched
June 15, 2024
Evansville, Ind. – June 13, 2024 – This year, CenterPoint Energy’s Community Safety Grant program awarded more than 90 grants totaling nearly $230,000 in Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio, and Texas to fund safety-related equipment and projects in local communities.
“At CenterPoint Energy, safety is our first core value and drives our efforts to provide safe and reliable energy to the customers and communities we are privileged to serve,” said June Deadrick, Vice President, Community Relations at CenterPoint Energy. “Through our Community Safety Grant Program, we support the work our emergency responders, local officials and many others do to help support the health and safety of our customers across our local communities.”
CenterPoint awards grants of up to $2,500 through this program to support local communities in filling funding gaps that may exist in acquiring safety materials. Each community that CenterPoint serves can submit a grant application with information on a safety-related problem, issue or need in the community and how a Community Safety Grant could address those needs.
Since launching the program in 2003, CenterPoint Energy has funded more than 1,600 safety-related projects and awarded over $3.25 million in grants to communities throughout the company’s six-state footprint for their safety initiatives. These grants have enabled communities to install public AEDs (automated external defibrillators), update emergency communication equipment, purchase personal protective equipment for first responders, install traffic control signs, purchase gas monitoring devices and many other projects.
Attorney General Todd Rokita sues Anderson apartment owners for allegedly abandoning tenants, forcing families to fend for themselves
Attorney General Todd Rokita sues Anderson apartment owners for allegedly abandoning tenants, forcing families to fend for themselves
Attorney General Todd Rokita is suing the owners of two Anderson apartment complexes for allegedly abandoning tenants — allowing Bingham Square Apartments and Madison Square Apartments to fall into such extreme disrepair as to render them entirely unlivable.
The defendants allegedly responsible for the abandonment are PR Bingham LLC; PR Madison LLC; Property Resource Associates LLC; and Gary Plichta.
“The way that hardworking Hoosiers are alleged to have been treated by these defendants is disgraceful,” Attorney General Rokita said. “Not every investment in real property can be successful, but it’s unconscionable to simply abandon these properties and force stranded families to figure out how to fend for themselves after they paid their rent.”
Defendants acquired Bingham Square Apartments in 2019 with a $2.7 million dollar loan from Landmark Bank and $900,000 in TIF Bonds from the Anderson Redevelopment Commission.
The lawsuit — filed by the Consumer Protection Division through its Homeowner Protection Unit — alleges that defendants thereafter walked away from the 129-unit complex and allowed its physical condition to totally deteriorate. As early as February 2021, utilities were shut off due to alleged nonpayment of utility charges to the City of Anderson.
The lawsuit likewise alleges that after being notified of at least 21 units not meeting Section 8 Housing Quality Standards by the Anderson Housing Authority, defendants cancelled their Section 8 contract and began evicting HUD-subsidized tenants from the property. Bingham Square Apartments has since been plagued by fires, flooding, utility outages, break-ins, and criminal trespassers.
The lawsuit likewise alleges that Madison Square Apartments experienced a similar fate.
After receiving $3.4 million dollars for the purchase and rehabilitation of this property, defendants allegedly abandoned tenants by the fall of 2022 — leaving behind an unsecured leasing office full of sensitive tenant information, including dozens of uncashed checks from years prior.
Trespassers are alleged to have taken hold of the property, cutting out electric meters in several buildings, stripping copper wire, and causing unsafe conditions wherein standing water was in contact with live electrical wires.
By May 2024 the defendants allegedly owed as much as $925,380 in unpaid utilities to the City of Anderson — a cost that will be borne by other ratepayers. Both properties were alleged to have been in the control of Gary Plichta and Property Resource Associates LLC, a company based out of Florida.
The lawsuit demands a jury trial, costs of prosecution, and other damages against the defendants for multiple violations of the Deceptive Consumer Sales Act, Home Loan Practices Act, and the Uniform Business Organizations Act.
“Our office intends to hold these defendants to account for the devastation they have caused to the City of Anderson and its constituents,” Attorney General Rokita said
The mission of the Homeowner Protection Unit is to protect the rights of all individuals involved in the housing market, including tenants, homeowners, and aspiring homeowners, by investigating and redressing deceptive acts in connection with mortgage lending and violations of relevant state and federal laws.