MEET JOE KIEFER “A TRUE PUBLIC SERVANT”
MEET JOE KIEFER, “A TRUE PUBLIC SERVANT”
written by ERIC BYFORD
APRIL 26, 2025
A true native of Evansville, Joe Kiefer is a man built from the ground up on a strong foundation of faith and family. As a community leader, Mr. Keifer traces his success back to his upbringing’s emphasis of serving God, loving family and living with a servant’s heart. He states growing up in a big family blessed him with the necessary communication skills and understanding of how to work with others.
TO THE CCO EDITOR “We Must Do Better in City Animal Control”
LETTER TO THE CITY COUNTY OBSERVER
By Joseph Kratochvil
March 26, 2025
Bill requiring jails to report potential immigration violations has passed
Bill requiring jails to report potential immigration violations has passed
The Indiana Senate covered a total of 49 bills and 12 amendments on Monday. Eighteen bills passed their third reading, and 17 bills on their second reading were engrossed. All other bills were passed upon.
House Bill 1393
The most controversial bill was House Bill 1393 regarding state immigration policy. HB 1393 states that after an arrest has been made, if there is probable cause, a jail or detention facility must reach out to the county sheriff to notify immigration customs enforcement or any other proper authority.
The bill passed 37-10 after a lengthy discussion among Sen. Aaron Freeman, R-Indianapolis, Sen. Greg Taylor, D-Indianapolis, and Sen. Fady Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis.
Taylor debated with Freeman about the specific language “probable cause” found in the bill and claimed that law enforcement does not want this bill to pass.
“This bill is not even supported by the people who will have to implement it,” Taylor said. “Why would you pursue a piece of legislation that the people you are asking to implement the policy don’t want to enforce?”
Taylor also expressed concerns about racial profiling within the 30-40 minute discourse.
Taylor and Qaddoura said the bill could have unintended effects on minorities.
“There is a fear that a victim of a crime might not even call IMPD because they are afraid that some family members, or themselves, will go down the path of being questioned about their immigration status,” Qaddoura said.
Freeman responded by stating the bill only affects those who cannot present any sort of legal documentation identifying themselves as American citizens.
“Look, I amended the bill because I didn’t want to put law enforcement in the position of even being able to pull somebody over or to detain somebody just because somebody may not be here illegally,” Freeman said.
HB 1393 was amended on March 20 to delete language that would empower an officer to pull someone over on the basis of citizenship status.
Caleb Crockett is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news site powered by Franklin College journalism students.
Governor Braun Signs Freedom & Opportunity Bill
INDIANAPOLIS – Today, Governor Mike Braun signed House Enrolled Act 1149 into law. This bill helps Hoosier farmers by creating a new online portal, giving them a one-stop shop for tools to communicate with the state government and get the information they need to be successful.
“This new online portal was part of my Freedom and Opportunity agriculture agenda and is a win for Hoosier farmers. It’s a one-stop-shop to help Hoosier farmers navigate state and federal agencies, avoid red tape, and communicate with the state government what we can do better to help them be successful.” — Governor Mike Braun
HEA 1149 was authored by Rep. Kendell Culp, and co-authored by Rep. Mike Aylesworth, Rep. Dave Heine, Rep. Justin Moed. The bill was sponsored by Sen. Jean Leising, Sen. Daryl Schmitt, Sen. Gary Byrne, Sen. Susan Glick, and Sen. Shelli Yoder.
The Indiana State Department of Agriculture will create and maintain this new online portal, with features like:
- Helping Hoosier farmers navigate agriculture-related issues across state and federal agencies.
- Centralizing funding information, including a searchable database of grants with deadlines and eligibility.
- Offering regulatory checklists to help farmers avoid violations when entering new markets.
- Connecting users to tools like data visualizations and technical support.
- Tracking lost farmland.
- Collecting public comments on federal regulations affecting Indiana’s rural economy.
- Gathering user feedback from farmers to improve the portal and government services.
Bipartisan bill gets a late one word change and a heated debate in Senate committee
Bipartisan bill gets a late one word change and a heated debate in Senate committee
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- By Anna Cecil, TheStatehouseFile.com
A bipartisan bill that passed unanimously in the House received a single word change that may have upended its original intent in Tuesday’s Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee meeting.
Before it was amended by committee Chair Sen. Aaron Freeman, R-Indianapolis, House Bill 1416 required gas stations, rest stops and welcome centers to display human trafficking awareness signs in their bathrooms, including law enforcement and hotline phone numbers. It also required human trafficking training courses for employees of food and lodging businesses.
In 2023, the national Human Trafficking Hotline was contacted 30,162 times. Of those pings, 7,380 were from victims or survivors of human trafficking. In 2021, nearly 180 victims were identified in Indiana because of the hotline.
Freeman warned supporters that his amendment would perhaps make them want to kill the bill altogether.
Freeman’s amendment changed HB 1416 from requiring those types of businesses to display the posters to saying that they “may” display them. It still requires state rest stops to have them.
The amendment passed 6-3. Sen. Rodney Pol, D-Chesterton, Sen. Greg Taylor, D-Indianapolis, and Sen. Sue Glick, R-LaGrange, voted no.
“I think one sheet of paper isn’t going to break the bank for gas stations in Indiana,” Glick, the sole Republican critic, said while explaining her vote. “If it saves one human life, I think it’s more than worthy.”
Freeman’s reasoning was that he thinks gas stations and convenience stores already have the information on their premises, so they do not need to be required by the government to post it.
“A lot of businesses and their associations have come to see me and explain to me why this isn’t workable, and I’m trying to find a solution to keep it moving,” he said.
Right after Freeman introduced his amendment, Taylor said he had several issues with it.
“We’re talking about putting up a piece of paper, a notice,” he said. “I actually am sick to my stomach that people would actually say, ‘I don’t want to do this.’”
Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne, said she was invited to speak to convenience stores and gas stations and learned that they were already being proactive about putting up human trafficking awareness signs in their restrooms.
“Our communities, our businesses within our communities, they have the eyes on the ground and they see what’s going on, and they will address it,” Brown said. “They don’t need us telling (them) that this is the best way to address it.”
Matt Norris, a spokesman with the Indiana Food and Fuel Association, said his organization supports the amendment because its members participate in the In Our Backyard campaign. The initiative provides stickers with a hotline number that may be posted in a convenience store or gas station.
Norris said Food and Fuel Association members don’t want to be required to add posters with additional information on human trafficking since they are already taking action.
He said the vast majority of members utilize the stickers but not all of them.
“The idea that … not all of your members are participating, that’s what concerns me,” Pol said.
Brown commended Norris and the members of his organization for the work they are doing voluntarily and asked the committee why they think this type of action isn’t sufficient.
“The fact of the matter is, everyone is trying to get the awareness out there, and the fact that they’re doing it in this method, and now we’re going to say they’re not doing enough,” Brown said.
Jess Kern, the founder of Raindrops Rising, a support and advocacy organization for the survivors of human trafficking, told the committee she was trafficked for 14 years. She said the few times she was alone were while she was using the restroom during transport. When Kern was being trafficked in the 1980s, there were no signs on the stalls with help hotlines.
Kern said that victims of trafficking are programmed to memorize things like walls, badges and numbers, so if they saw a hotline number on a bathroom stall, they would memorize it immediately. This would allow them to call for help the next time they could access a phone.
Taylor asked Kern if she thought the state of Indiana was doing enough to help victims of human trafficking.
“Honestly, no,” she said. “I think that we try every day to chip away at the glass ceiling, so there’s a lot of change that needs to be made.”
Kern referenced legislation in Texas, a red state like Indiana, which has caused a significant increase in trafficking-related arrests and convictions.
Evan Weimer, an advocate with Raindrops Rising, said only one out of 100 human trafficking victims survives.
“How many more might make it out if they knew they had a choice, if they saw a flyer in a bathroom stall and memorized the phone number?” she asked the committee. “I know systems are in place, and it’s hard to breaHB k out of what we’ve always done, but we’re talking about life-saving steps toward lowering human trafficking fatalities.”
At the end of the meeting, the bill passed 12-0.
Before he voted, Taylor shared some final concerns.
“All I did is listen to the facts,” he said. “This is not political. This is about children, who are the majority of people trafficked in this situation.”
Anna Cecil is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news site powered by Franklin College journalism students.
RESCHEDULED – USI Communication and Media Department to host annual Social Media Symposium April 10
RESCHEDULED – USI Communication and Media Department to host annual Social Media Symposium April 10
The University of Southern Indiana College of Liberal Arts and the Communication and Media Department is excited to announce the annual Social Media Symposium, happening at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 10 in Carter Hall, located in University Center West. The event is open to the public at no charge and will be available virtually through Zoom as well. Registration is required through Zoom for virtual viewing.
Kaylee Johnson, Media Relations Specialist for USI, will present Behind the Screens: The Strategy, Wins and Chaos of Managing USI’s Socials. Learn about the organized chaos of the social media management world from one of our own USI alumnae.
Johnson is a communications specialist with experience in media relations, social media management and content creation. In her role at USI, she manages the University’s social media platforms, creates engaging content and works to enhance the University’s visibility through media outreach. She is also a member of the University’s Crisis Communications Team. Previously, she served as a University Strategic Communication Graduate Assistant, writing for internal University audiences and maintaining web content. She also worked in multiple student workers roles during her time as a student at USI.
Johnson is a 2020 graduate of public relations and advertising at USI and a 2022 graduate of USI’s Master of Communication program.
For more information, contact Mary Beth Reese, USI Instructor in Communication, at mereese@usi.edu or visit the Social Media Symposium webpage.
UE Theatre Alumnus, Dylan Frederick ’14, Returns to Campus April 1 & 2 to Screen Award-Winning Documentary American Theater
UE Theatre Alumnus, Dylan Frederick ’14, Returns to Campus April 1 & 2 to Screen Award-Winning Documentary American Theater
The University of Evansville (UE) Department of Theatre is proud to announce alumnus Dylan Frederick ’14 will be returning to campus to screen AMERICAN THEATER which recently won the Feature Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the Slamdance Film Festival. The event will be held at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 1, and Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in the John David Lutz Theatre Lab. The 90-minute film will be followed by a Q&A with Frederick.
“AMERICAN THEATER follows artists who are on the conservative right, but our ambition is that the film can reach audiences across lines of difference,” says co-director Dylan Frederick. “In recent years, there has been a concerted effort to cast half of the country as fundamentally evil in the eyes of the other. AMERICAN THEATER aims to briefly interrupt that cynical strategy and offer audiences a new way to see ourselves in this current political moment-as an entire nation of actors desperate for direction.”
Once nationally celebrated for his large-scale outdoor musical productions at Serenbe Playhouse (TITANIC performed on an actual sinking ship or MISS SAIGON with a real helicopter landing) Brian Clowdus’s theater career came to a halt in 2020 amid extensive public allegations of unsafe working conditions, racism, and harassment. In the wake of these allegations, Clowdus reinvented himself as a MAGA Republican. AMERICAN THEATER follows Clowdus and his newly assembled troupe of actors as they rehearse their allegorical cancel culture musical-THE SALEM EXPERIENCE.
“The movie is a salute to the hardworking cast of THE SALEM EXPERIENCE,” says co-director Nicholas Clark. “They tried their very best to put on a new musical in the middle of the woods and under challenging circumstances. Musicals are unbelievably hard to make, and this one was particularly chaotic. Our idea for the project was to bring an entirely observational approach to documenting their artistic process without interruption. In this way, we were able to authentically capture a rehearsal room immersed in work.”
“At the center of this project is a complex relationship between a director and his cast which we feel reflects aspects of the dynamic between Trump and his supporters. That rehearsal dynamic has helped us understand the current national trend toward rightwing authoritarian leaders and those who follow them,” says producer Laura Hilliard.
Seating is limited and tickets are free to the public. Reserve your seat by calling the UE Theatre ticket office at 812.488.2031, Monday through Friday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT
FOOTNOTE: EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT information was provided by the EPD and posted by the City-County-County Observer without opinion, bias, or editing.