As I write this column the Weather App on my cell phone says the actual temperature is 98 degrees Fahrenheit with a heat index making it feel like 108 degrees. There is no breeze but that’s okay. If there were, it would simply baste our skin as though we were a slow-crusting brisket. I ask you, Gentle Reader, “Why July Fourth?” Does not each of the twelve months have a Fourth? For example, the merry month of May or the crisp, invigorating month of October each has a perfectly good Fourth. And neither has a heat index of 108 degrees! Were our Founding Fathers so fond of their wool frock coats they were impervious to July’s guarantee of a reprise of Joan of Arc’s demise? What was Thomas Jefferson thinking as his Sons of Liberty compatriots dumped the tea into Boston’s Harbor on December 16, 1773? Why not fire off his written volleys against King George III then, when it was cool?
Our rhetorical path today is an examination of the date of our country’s birthday and how we might celebrate it each year without getting suntan lotion and sweaty grit mixed into our barbeque. To me the solution is as simple as the whole country ignoring the gamesmanship of celebrating George Washington’s and Abraham Lincoln’s birthdays not on February 22 and February 12 as we did all of my school years. Why, with the stroke of a Congressional pen, voila, we now have President’s Day every year on the third Monday in February! I say, hooray! Now how about the Fourth of …?
Many people throughout the world have celebrated the presumed birthday of Jesus. Yet, no one truly knows for sure when Jesus was born. We do know over the past 2,000 years more than one date has been chosen for Christ’s date of birth. For example, many people in Europe celebrate Christmas on January 07 because they follow the Julian calendar set by Julius Caesar in 46 B.C.
However, in 1582 Pope Gregory developed his calendar. The Julian Calendar and the Gregorian Calendar each gave a different day for Christmas. One was on the 24th or 25th of December and the other gave January 07. Does it matter? Apparently not. I say if the world can pick an arbitrary date for the birth of Jesus, we can re-set the birth of America to a friendlier clime. I respectfully suggest October 04 every year starting in 2025.
On a personal topic, one of my earlier Gavel Gamut columns drew the thoughtful attention of a reader, Mr. Jerry Butterbaugh. Mr. Butterbaugh, thank you for taking the time to read the column and thank you for your interesting perspective. You respectfully presented a different point of view without casting aspersions. Would that our beloved country as a whole could discuss our many serious issues in the same manner. Your points were clear and helpful. I appreciate them.
Also, since my wife Peg is about the only reader I can consistently rely upon, and that only because she has to type and post them, your response was most welcome.
FOOTNOTE: EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT information was provided by the EPD and posted by the City-County-County Observer without opinion, bias, or editing.
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Evansville Otters played in their third doubleheader of the year on Thursday against the Joliet Slammers at Bosse Field. The Otters (17-25) dropped the opener 4-0, but salvaged the series with a win in the nightcap, taking down the Slammers (19-23) 6-1.
Game 1 – Joliet 4, Evansville 0
The Otters were shut out for the first time this season in the early contest. Geno Encina (1-1) earned the win on the hill, pitching in all seven frames as the starter. Taking the loss was Parker Brahms (2-5). All three runs he allowed came on a walk, an error and a hit-by-pitch.
Joliet opened the scoring in the third inning with two runs. They added another in the fourth frame and finalized the scoring in the seventh.
Offensively, the Otters strung together three hits from David Mendham, Jake Green and Logan Brown. They were held to their least amount of knocks in a single game this season.
Game 2 – Evansville 6, Joliet 1
Evansville rebounded in the nightcap, jumping ahead early and never looking back.
Braden Scott (1-6) was tabbed with his first win of the 2024 season after pitching a gem. He went the distance, striking out 11 in his seven innings as the starter. Zach Grace (0-1) took the loss.
Alec Olund homered to left field for two runs in the first inning to put the Otters on the board. It was his fifth jack of the year, but his first in an Evansville uniform. Also in the frame, Randy Bednar came into score on the second error of the inning from the Joliet defense, making it a 3-0 game.
The Otters added another trio to finalize their scoring in the fourth frame. Justin Felix launched his second home run of the season to right field, plating two runs. Then, Delvin Zinn singled and later scored on a sacrifice RBI from Olund for his third run driven in of the night.
Joliet scored their lone run in the sixth inning.
Closing out their nine-game home stand tonight, the Otters finished 4-5 in three series. Now, they will hit the road for six contests, beginning Friday against the Windy City ThunderBolts. The first pitch tomorrow is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. CT in Crestwood,IL. Coverage is available on the Otters Digital Network and FloBaseball.
In this multi-part Statehouse File special report, Sydney Byerly examines the history of, the motivation behind and varying reactions to Indiana’s recent embrace of book banning.
3. Next chapter:
The new genre of book censorship
Dr. Jason Aukerman, the director of the Center for Ray Bradbury Studies and clinical assistant professor in English at Indiana University Indianapolis, said book bans are different now, not necessarily in the subject matter but in the rate and level at which they’re being banned.
In this multi-part Statehouse File special report, Sydney Byerly examines the history of, the motivation behind and varying reactions to Indiana’s recent embrace of book banning.
He’s right. According to the ALA’s latest press release, the number of titles targeted for censorship surged 65% in 2023 compared to 2022, reaching the highest levels ever documented by the association. And titles representing LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC individuals made up 47% of those targeted in censorship attempts.
Over the last two years, the trending challenges have increasingly been directed against multiple titles at a time, oftentimes because of conservative groups like Moms for Liberty organizing banning efforts nationwide.
Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, told the Associated Press, “There used to be a roughly one-to-one ratio, where a parent would complain about an individual book, like in the days when many were objecting to Harry Potter,” Caldwell-Stone said. “Now you have people turning up at meetings and asking that 100 titles be removed.
“I think this trend is going to continue, at least for as long as these groups want to go after whole categories of books.”
Aukerman suggested that while censorship and book banning has historically been cyclical, the recent trend sweeping the nation could be due to a rise in Christian nationalism and that rhetoric during former president Donald Trump’s administration invigorated people in a way the country had never seen before.
“There is a segment of the population that holds their beliefs very dearly. Their faith brings a lot of meaning into their life. And I think certain religious groups have enjoyed a considerable privilege for many, many years, and there are trends that are alarming,” said Aukerman. “Younger people are turning out to be less religious, fewer and fewer are going to church. In 2015, the Supreme Court made it legal for same-sex couples to marry each other.”+4
Throughout history, a long (and growing) list of books has been moved or removed from the shelves of libraries for one reason or another. Look…
Aukerman said it seems these people feel empowered now to vocalize their beliefs through legislation that has led to mass book banning.
“I think that’s reflected in the types of books that we are seeing challenged and banned right now,” he said. “Anything dealing with LGBTQ+ issues. There is an attempt to whitewash history.”
Aukerman said he was quick to pick up on these cues having grown up in it.
“I know what the mentality is like because I had an inside perspective,” he said. “I held those beliefs at one time in my life.
“There’s this lack of understanding that just because you hold the conviction, the belief does not mean you are allowed to impose that belief on other people. And when people lose privilege—the loss of unmerited and even unconstitutional privilege—for some people, if they’re not able to take a step back, it feels like persecution having to give other people the exact same rights you’ve enjoyed for so long.”
“I think we’ve got a minority population in the country that thinks that it should be the majority population, and they’re having a hard time dealing with the fact that they are becoming an ever increasingly smaller minority in the country.
“I feel like on some level they understand this culture war they’ve waged is something they’ve lost, especially with people in younger generations. They’re coming up more tolerant, they’re more accepting, they’re more accommodating. They’re willing to stand up for the rights of people who have been bullied and marginalized for a long time.”
Aukerman suggested that rather than being introspective and considering why this is the case, people who hold these beliefs are quick to find something to blame—concluding they’re being indoctrinated.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous,” he said. “But they’re looking for answers and explanations, and once they think they’ve found something, they attack it. And that’s what we’re seeing with the book bans and the censorship of history.”
Aukerman said that, from his perspective, “We’re living in a cultural moment that’s really really interesting. I’ll throw the cliche out there: Tell me a single point in history where the people who censored and banned books were the good guys.
“By and large, history does not look kindly on the people who banned books and censor information. The people who make those attempts might prevail for a while, but usually democracy wins out. Choice wins out. Individual freedom wins out.”
Aukerman reflected on how it can be hard to separate that there are people you may love and care about who hold these beliefs and breaking them from this ideology can be difficult. However, he said, “The idea of book banning doesn’t scare me. But what it’s communicating to our young people absolutely terrifies me and infuriates me, and that’s why I’m so active and engaged in opposing this.”
Aukerman argued that every kid should be able to grab a book in their school or public library and see themselves represented or reflected because “we read to learn, we read to escape, we read to imagine other possibilities.
“Kids have cell phones. If they want to get the information, they’ve got Google right at their fingertips. So, it’s not like any of this legislation is going to make any difference in preventing certain types of knowledge from getting into students’ hands.
“What it is communicating especially to our LGBTQ+ youth is, ‘You’re not welcome here, we don’t like you.’ And it further marginalizes them when they’re already facing challenges most of us don’t have to face. Taking their books away from them—that’s just a bully move,” Aukerman continued. “It’s absolutely disgusting. There is nothing loving in that, there is nothing kind in that. I find that it’s a form of bullying, it’s a form of aggression and it cannot be tolerated.”
Erin Gabrielson, student learning and research librarian at Franklin College, had her own suggestions for why book bans have resurfaced in recent years—one of them being “the filter bubble.”
“The algorithms that we’re all subjected to, how any social media we consume, even internet searches, Google, are creating a bubble for us where we maybe aren’t seeing the same variety of thought, we aren’t getting the same exposure of ideas that are different than our own anymore,” she said. “And so there’s this expectation of comfort because that’s the information world we’ve been all getting accustomed to.”
Gabrielson said this can be problematic because parents can have the misconception that letting their child wander in the library can be as safe as letting them on an app with parental controls.
She worries that with the filter bubble, people might be losing their ability to have civil discourse.
“When you’re only seeing things that you agree with, you’re not being challenged, you don’t really know what to do then, so it’s a very defensive reaction from parents who are engaging in this with challenges and wanting books moved or removed completely,” Gabrielson said. “So, I think there’s a lot of moving parts politically, it’s a political issue. It’s also an issue of plurality and people not really knowing how to exist anymore.”
Aukerman agrees. “It’s really unfortunate, and I think that’s a broader cultural trend, and expertise is just not valued anymore,” he said.
“People are constantly getting educated at YouTube University. They’re Google scholars, but not in a good sense. They look for information that affirms their biases, that affirms what they want to think. The lack of information literacy is another large contributing factor.”
Aukerman said that not only are filter bubbles impacting how certain populations feel about the material they’re trying to challenge, but the elected officials creating these types of legislation are incapable of finding peer-reviewed research or letting research guide their beliefs.
“It’s the inverse,” he said. “They allow their belief to guide what they research instead of looking for the truth. It’s just this constant circle of confirmation bias that is really troubling and could be detrimental to our democracy if it continues.”
FOOTNOTE:
To be continued …Series 3 will be published on JULY 1. 2024 by the City-County Observer.
Former Statehouse File reporter Sydney Byerly graduated in May from Franklin College. This series comprised her senior project and tied for the top honor within the Pulliam School of Journalism. You can see her full project website here. Byerly is now regional editor for The Corydon Democrat and Clarion News.
My sister and I, along with our spouses, are here at the Marion National Cemetery to leave flowers at our father’s grave.
Yesterday, we did the same at a church graveyard in southern Indiana that has been the final resting place for our mother’s people for two centuries. Now, it is home to the headstones and remains of our mother and our younger brother.
Mom and Dad died on the same day one year ago. They had been divorced for almost a half-century, but two things kept them tied long after their marriage ended.
One was that they had children together. I was the first born, followed by my sister almost two and a half years later. I was almost eight years old when our brother came along.
Both Mom and Dad were devoted parents. They cared about their children, worried about us, pushed us and, in ways they couldn’t always express, loved us.
The other great tie came near the end of their lives.
It was grief.
When my brother was diagnosed with the cancer that would kill him, his illness pounded Mom and Dad.
Even though she was almost an invalid by that point, Mom insisted that, if she could just get close to our brother, she would summon the strength to nurse him back to health. When we convinced her that was not possible, she began to pray incessantly, offering to trade her life for her son’s.
I went with my brother to his doctors’ visits. Mom always wanted a full report.
At the call’s end, she would ask me, “Do you think maybe there’s a chance he could get better?”
I told her the truth—that the best we could hope for was stretching out the clock. She would hear me. She’d accept it for a time, but she found the prospect of her youngest child’s death too painful to acknowledge for long.
I knew that we’d have the same conversation the next time I called.
Dad’s denial was different. He and my brother lived together during the last years of my brother’s life. They both had health challenges and kept an eye on each other.
My father had spent formative years of his childhood in an orphanage, an experience that taught him to deal with pain by pretending it didn’t exist. He spent his life shrugging off the deepest hurts, assuring everyone always that he was all right.
Whenever my brother’s cancer came up, Dad would say, “I think he’s turning the corner.”
Then, he’d change the subject.
When my brother did die on a frigid January morning in 2022, both my parents fell into a despair from which they never recovered. Mom raged from her wheelchair against the cruel fates that had taken her youngest child. Dad, blind and hearing-impaired, struggled to pretend he was tough enough to absorb this blow, too.
It was in quiet moments their grief most revealed itself.
Sometimes during one of my visits, Mom would go silent. Then she would look at me and say she wished my brother were still here before crying.
For most of his life, my father wouldn’t talk about the past. After my brother died, though, Dad grew more reflective.
He expressed regret that he and Mom had not been able to work through their differences. Often, he would ask me if I thought my brother could have done anything different that would have made a difference. Behind that question was one Dad didn’t ask—what could he have done that mighte changed things?
Death was something both my parents welcomed, a release from a pain that cut right down to their souls. My sister and I felt sadness when they died, but also relief that their suffering was over.
Their deaths, though, left us feeling isolated, the last surviving members of our birth family, the only two people left on earth who know what it was like to grow up in our house.
The oldest links in our family chain.
There is no quiet so still as that of a graveyard. It’s like eternity whispering.
As we walk among the headstones, my sister and I think of hearts broken and loved ones lost.
And we pray that they rest in peace.
John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students. The views expressed are those of the author only and should not be attributed to Franklin College.
Governor Eric Holcomb has appointed two new members to the University of Southern Indiana Board of Trustees for four-year terms through June 30, 2028. The new Trustees are Tim Hollander and Wayne Kinney, both of Evansville. Holcomb also appointed Samantha Fleischaker ‘26, a USI political science and philosophy major, to a two-year term as the Student Member of the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.
Tim Hollander
Hollander serves as President of Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Indiana, Inc., (TMMI) where he leads all production and administrative functions at the manufacturing facility in Princeton, Indiana.
Previously, Hollander served as Vice President of Manufacturing at TMMI and was responsible for all production, plant engineering, Toyota Production System (TPS) and maintenance operations.
During his tenure with Toyota, he has held positions of increasing responsibility including General Manager of Administration at Toyota Motor Manufacturing West Virginia, Inc., and General Manager of Human Resources and Safety at TMMI. Hollander joined Toyota in 1998 as a Production Control Specialist.
Additionally, Hollander serves on several boards, including Indiana Manufacturers Association, Evansville Regional Economic Partnership, Evansville Regional Business Council, Southwest Indiana Regional Development Authority and the advisory council of Youth First.
Hollander holds a bachelor’s degree in business from Indiana State University and a master’s degree in strategic leadership from the University of Charleston. He is a native of Evansville where he resides with his wife and two children.
Wayne Kinney
USI alumnus Wayne Kinney is the owner of JWK Management Group in Evansville. From 2002-23, he founded and served as CEO of Innovative Consulting Group, based in Evansville, and focused on flexible healthcare IT services. The company was recapitalized in 2023, and Kinney now serves on the Board. He previously served as Vice President of Information Services and Chief Information Officer at Ascension Health from 1987-2002.
Kinney serves on the board of Liberty Federal Credit Union as the Chairperson. He is a member of the USI Foundation Board of Directors. He has served on The Easter Seals Rehabilitation Board, Evansville Park and Recreation Board, Vanderburgh County Redevelopment Corporation and the Blue Grass Church Long Range Planning Committee.
Kinney is a 1977 graduate of USI with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. He holds an MBA from the University of Evansville. He obtained an Executive MBA from the Wharton School of Business. He and his wife Beth currently reside in Evansville with their two children and four grandchildren.
The USI Board of Trustees has nine trustees and must include one alumni of the University, one current student and one resident of Vanderburgh County. Trustee terms are for four years, except for the student term, which is two years.
Samantha Fleischaker
Samantha Fleischaker, USI Class of 2026, has been selected as the Student Member of the Indiana Commission of Higher Education and will serve a two-year term through June 30, 2026. She is the first Student Member of the Commission from USI since 2002.
A native of Celestine, Indiana, and graduate of Jasper High School, Fleischaker is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in political science and philosophy and holds a 3.9 cumulative GPA. She is the President of the Political Science Society and serves on the Student Government Executive Board as Attorney General. She is also involved in numerous organizations including Campus Outreach USI, Pi Sigma Alpha and the Asian Student Union.
As the new Student Member of the Commission, Fleischaker is passionate about providing accessible resources to all students interested in higher education. She brings a unique perspective to the Commission as a Frank O’Bannon Grant recipient and strives to give back to higher education by providing those same opportunities to other students.
The student member of the Indiana Commission for Higher Education is responsible to convene with and serve as a full voting member of the Commission. The student member serves on the Student Success and Completion Committee and is responsible for participating in monthly meetings in correlation with regular Commission meetings.
WASHINGTON D.C. – Governor Eric J. Holcomb concluded a two-day economic development trip to Washington D.C. yesterday, meeting with global executives, business leaders and government partners at the 2024 SelectUSA Investment Summit. The Governor, who was joined by Secretary of Commerce David Rosenberg, participated in the 10th summit hosted by SelectUSA – a U.S. Department of Commerce program dedicated to facilitating job-creating business investment in the United States by convening thousands of investors, companies, economic development organizations and industry experts to enable investment opportunities.
Gov. Holcomb joined a gubernatorial panel focused on talent development for the clean energy era. The Governor highlighted Indiana’s comprehensive approach to talent attraction and retention as well as skills development, while showcasing the state’s increasing momentum as a global leader in clean energy generation and storage. The state has been recognized as the No. 4 state in the country for new clean energy under development and will soon be home to the largest solar installation in the U.S. following completion of Doral Renewable’s Mammoth Solar. Additionally, Indiana has attracted more than $12.2 billion of committed investments in the state’s battery sector and is part of a Midwest collaboration for advancing hydrogen technology – known as MachH2 – that was awarded designation as a federal technology hub.
At SelectUSA, Gov. Holcomb also participated in a gubernatorial roundtable hosted by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The discussion focused on the impact of foreign direct investment across the United States and the role economic security, national security and workforce development are impacting business investment and job creation trends across the county.
Gov. Holcomb and Sec. Rosenberg met with key partners, including Reta Jo Lewis, president and chair of the board of directors of the Export-Import Bank (EXIM) of the United States, to further Indiana’s two-way trade across the globe. EXIM is an independent federal agency that provides financial assistance to U.S. businesses – with a particularly focus on small businesses – to help them export goods and services to international customers.
The Governor met with foreign government officials, including Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason, Irish Ambassador to the U.S.
Indiana is home to 49 Ireland-based businesses, including companies like Allegion, Aptiv and Wiistream, that together employ more than 4,000 Hoosiers.
While in Washington, D.C., Gov. Holcomb and the delegation also met Saeed Amidi, founder and CEO of Plug and Play. In March, the venture capital firm cut the ribbon on its Indiana office in Warsaw that is focused on growing the medtech industry through collaborations with the region’s prominent life sciences sector and industry leaders like Zimmer Biomet and Paragon Medical. At SelectUSA, the Governor and IEDC team met with dozens of executives of U.S. and international businesses and investors.
The Indiana delegation also included several of the IEDC’s international office representatives located across Asia and Europe who are focused on growing new investment opportunities in Indiana. In 2023, the state secured commitments from 36 international businesses to locate or grow in Indiana, together planning to invest $20.49 billion in Indiana – representing a 182% increase from 2022 and accounting for 71% of the total capital investment committed to Indiana in 2023. Together, these businesses plan to create more than 8,500 new jobs with average wages of $39.98/hour or more than $83,000 annually.
VINCENNES, Ind. – The three-time defending Region 24 Champion Vincennes University Volleyball team picked up another local addition this week in walk on defensive specialist Brooklyn Summers from nearby Loogootee High School.
Summers comes to the Trailblazers after spending her first year out of high school at VU as a student.
Summers is a five-foot three defensive specialist who helped guide the Lions to a final record of 21-11 in her senior season in 2022, playing in all 32 matches and recording 424 set assists, 234 digs, 48 kills and 35 aces.
Summers graduated from Loogootee as a member of the Lions 1,000 Assists Club, while also leading the team in Assists twice, service points once and finished the season with the highest serve percentage twice.
Summers was also named to the All Blue Chip Conference Team in 2022 and received the team’s Mental Attitude Award in 2022.
Summers brings to the Trailblazers Championship experience as she was a member of the Loogootee State Runner-Up team in 2020 and helped the Lions repeat as Sectional Champions the following year.
Summers also comes in with some previous experience playing with fellow Blazers Dylan DeCoursey (Montgomery, Ind.) and Libby Mehringer (Jasper, Ind.) who all played for the Metro Volleyball Club.
Brooklyn is the daughter of Travis and Leslie Summers and is a Business Management major.
Summers also comes to the VU Volleyball team with a host of academic accomplishments.
Summers was named to the Indiana High School Volleyball Coaches Association (IHSVCA) Academic All-State team as a senior, graduated high school with an Academic Honors and Technical Honors Diploma.
Summers is also a recipient of the Knights of Columbus Scholarship, Butcher-Gee Scholarship and VU Academic Scholarship.
“I’ve known about Brooklyn for a while,” VUVB Head Coach Gary Sien said. “A good thing that she brings is that she played on the same Club team as Dylan and Libby. It’s always nice to bring different players together who played at different schools that have played together in a Club setting.”
“From what I’ve heard about Brooklyn she’s a great teammate and a hard worker,” Sien added. “She’s someone that really loves the game and someone like that will always fit in here, as well as being an exceptional student. She’s been at VU already a year as a student, so she’s coming in as a second year student, first year player.”
“Skill wise, she’ll be adding another DS / libero option for us,” Sien said. “I always try every year to get in as many of those players as we can carry. My saying is that you can never have too many defensive specialists. Plus she has some previous experience setting, which is not a bad combination to have. We’ll have a number of players this year who have that ability and experience to run an offense. That plays into the recent rule changes with how you can use your hands and she definitely has that ability to be able to put up a hittable ball.”
“Since I’ve started coaching at this level, even back at Kankakee, I always tried to recruit the local athletes,” Sien said. “I like to stay on top of the scouting reports for the teams that are local, those within about an hour away. Getting the local players and families to be a part of the program really helps build a fan base. Even though you can’t fully fill out a team every year with local athletes, we had a number of local players last year and we saw the parents and families at most every game and many of them traveled to watch us on the road.”
“Recruiting locally and in Indiana has always been a priority for me,” Sien added. “If you build that, the word gets out because then they are going to let people close by know.”
“I know it’s her first year playing collegiately, but it definitely helps when you add on a second year student,” Sien said. “They add to the maturity of the group and possibly bring some leadership to the team. If nothing else, she brings the experience of already being a VU student. She is also bringing in some State Championship experience and that’s something that you can’t buy. That’s going to be something that is going to help both your individual and team success.”
“Brooklyn loves to compete and is a positive team player,” Loogootee Volleyball Coach Shelly Lengacher said. “I am thrilled that she is going to continue playing the sport she loves at Vincennes University.”
The Vincennes University Athletic Department is excited to welcome Brooklyn Summers to the 2024 Trailblazer recruiting class.
