EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Baseball had five players recognized by the Ohio Valley Conference, including freshman right-handed pitcher Grant Parson (Owensboro, Kentucky), who was named the conference’s Freshman of the Year. The OVC honors are selected by a vote of the institution head coaches and the athletic media relations directors.
Parson, who also received second team All-OVC and All-Freshman team honors, is 4-3 this season with a 3.90 ERA in 60 innings of work. The right-hander, who became the first Eagle to earn an OVC Pitcher of the Week award earlier this month, is among the OVC leaders, ranking fourth in ERA and tied for ninth in strikeouts (60).
Parson posted a season-high nine strikeouts in a win Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and has reached the seventh inning in four of his last five starts.
Joining Parson on the OVC second team are senior first baseman/designated hitter Tucker Ebest (Austin Texas), junior right-hander Gavin Seebold (Jeffersonville, Indiana), and senior outfielder Ren Tachioka (Japan).
Tachioka leads USI and ranks second in the OVC with a .377 batting average (66-175) in 45 games this season. He also has 41 runs scored, six doubles, one triple, and one home run, while leading the Eagles with 17 stolen bases.
The USI leadoff hitter also made his move up the Eagles’ record book this season. Tachioka enters the post-season ranked 11th in triples (7) and stolen bases (53), 19th in runs scored (126), 21st in total bases (226), and 22nd in hits (181) all-time at USI.
Ebest, who was second-team All-OVC as a utility player, was USI’s source of power in the lineup. He posted a team-high nine home runs and 51 RBIs, while hitting .271 with 32 runs scored. The senior utility player has hit 21 home runs in his two-year USI career, ranking seventh all-time, in addition to entering the top 20 all-time in RBIs with 104.
Seebold was 4-0 in OVC action and led the Eagles with a 6-2 mark overall this season. The junior right-hander ranks third on the Eagles and fifth in the OVC with a 4.14 ERA and was second on the staff with 55 strikeouts. He posted a career-high seven strikeout on the road at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
USI freshman right-hander Clayton Weisheit (Ferdinand, Indiana) joined Parson on the OVC All-Freshman team. Weisheit is 0-1 this spring with a 4.05 ERA and three saves, striking out 28 batters in 40 innings of work.
USI Baseball begins tournament play Wednesday at the 2024 OVC Baseball Championship. The Eagles are the fourth seed after going 25-30 overall and 14-13 in the conference season. USI received a first-round bye and will play Wednesday at 4 p.m., awaiting the winner of the matchup between fifth-seeded Tennessee Tech University and eighth-seeded University of Tennessee at Martin.
The OVC Baseball Championship can be seen with a subscription to ESPN+, while ESPN 97.7FM also will have live on the radio and online broadcasts of USI games. The links to follow all of the action can be found on USIScreamingEagles.com.
Five Eagles receive All-OVC honors Parson named OVC Freshman of the Year
EPD Wants to Help You Not Fall Victim to Rental Property Scams
The Evansville Police Department has received several reports of people falling victim to rental property scams. In these situations, potential renters respond to someone pretending to be a representative for a property on a social media website. The victim then finds out, after sending money through some type of electronic cash app, that the person receiving the money has no authority over the property. In most instances the scammers are not local to Evansville but just mimic legitimate property listings and ask for money to be sent immediately for a rental application fee or a security down payment, etc.
Not all rental scams look the same, but all can cause an unaware potential renter to lose a lot of money. EPD would like to warn everyone about these scams and share information to help you avoid being a victim.
What are the most common signs of a rental scam? Rental scams often have listings with prices that seem too good to be true. The fake “listing agent” or “property manager” usually asks you to wire money or pay in an unusual way. They also might pressure you to make quick decisions, ask for rent or deposit without a signed lease, and they avoid meeting in person.
There are more good tips to avoid rental scams on this webpage: https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/rental-scam-signs-and-how-to-avoid-them/ If you are looking to rent property EPD encourages you to be aware of the signs it’s a scam and be cautious. Do your research and never let someone push you into immediately sending money through a cash app or other unusual way.
If you come across a suspicious rental listing on a website, report it to the website’s administrators or group moderators. Then, notify the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.gov.
If believe you have been the victim of a rental property scam you can contact the Evansville Police Department Financial Crimes Unit at (812) 436-7991.
E-REP REVEALS PLANS FOR OHIO RIVERFRONT
E-REP REVEALS PLANS FOR OHIO RIVERFRONT
First in a series by Johnny Kincaid
MAY 22, 2024
Evansville Regional Economic Partnership (EREP) has unveiled a new vision for the waterfront and is now seeking the funding needed to give the downtown waterfront a significant makeover. But, before we dig out the checkbook and spend millions on the new shiny thing (wait ’til you see the artist renderings of the big skywalk), let’s step back in time and remember the past shiny things meant to revitalize our great watery resource.
As recently as 2021, EREP sought $50 million in READI (Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative) funds to build the River Center between Old National Bank and Centerpoint. The center would contain 135 water-view apartments, 32,000 square feet of restaurants and retailers, and a stair-step design that creates seating for large events overlooking the Ohio River.
There was a time when Riverside Drive was closed on many summer weekends for riverfront festivals. The Freedom Festival brought people together along the riverfront from Flag Day until the Fourth of July with concerts, dances, fireworks, and Thunder on the Ohio.
When the new esplanade was built at Dress Plaza at a cost of $10 million, the public was told that the river was our front door and the new design was putting our best foot forward. Dress Plaza was designed to facilitate multiple activities. In addition to providing a downtown boat launch, it featured riverside seating for 5,000 people. We were convinced there were music acts that would love to come and perform from a barge converted to a floating stage, but the big river shows never materialized. The idea of 5,000 seats for the hydroplane boat races was an exhilarating prospect until the entire lower plaza area (where the seats are located) was needed to provide room for pit crews and boats. Ultimately, we spent $10,000,000 for a seldom-used boat ramp.
Architecture firm Storrow Kinsella boasted of their design for the riverfront, saying, “The City has reclaimed its waterfront while moving closer to its dream of becoming a ‘City within a Park’.”
The latest proposal for the Evansville riverfront is part of a regional plan developed by EREP to improve the waterfronts in Mt. Vernon, Newburgh, and Evansville. In the days to come, we will share details of the full master plan, starting with the broad picture and breaking it down into details and expectations. Will this new project be overhyped and quickly forgotten like many new shiny things, or will it have a lasting impact on improving our quality of life?
BORROWED HEARTS RECEIVES $10,000 FROM 100 GUYS WHO CARE
BORROWED HEARTS RECEIVES $10,000 FROM 100 GUYS WHO CARE
By Johnny Kincaid
MAY22, 2024
At their quarterly meeting, 100 Guys Who Care awarded $10,032 to Borrowed Hearts, a small non-profit that provides children in foster care and their foster families with necessities like clothing, food, and hygiene items.
The donation brings the total philanthropy for the group to over $250,000, a major sum of money considering that there is no group registered with the name 100 Guys Who Care. There is no registration for non-profit status, no articles of incorporation, no formal board of directors, and no bank account. The group has a roster of about 300 members who meet on a quarterly basis purely for the purpose of giving money to a local non-profit. Each member that attends brings $100 to donate to one of the three non-profits invited to come and make a presentation. Usually, there are 100 members in attendance at each meeting, making their individual $100 total at least $10,000. If they Arte short of the $10,000, members in attendance will kick in more money to give the winning non-profit the entire $10,000.
Field and Main Bank donates additional money to give to the two runner-up organizations.
Evansville Day School Student Sets Guinness World Record As Youngest Drone Videographer In The World
e Common Council of the City of Evansville Meeting
The Common Council of the City of Evansville, Indiana issues the following meeting notice in accordance with Indiana Code:
The Common Council of the City of Evansville, Indiana
Thursday, May 23, 2024
11:00 a.m., CST
1 NW Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
Room 318
Evansville, Indiana 47708
(812) 436-4993
AGENDA:
An Executive Session will be held beginning at 11:00 a.m. pursuant to I.C.
5-14-1.5-6.1 for a discussion of strategy regarding its intervention in pe
The Evansville Police Department reminds Drivers: Buckle Up May 20 – June 2, and Every Day
The Evansville Police Department reminds Drivers:
Buckle Up May 20 – June 2, and Every Day
Evansville, In. The Evansville Police Department is teaming up with law enforcement from across the state to urge to buckle up ahead of a national Click It or Ticket high-visibility seat belt enforcement effort.
The national seat belt campaign, which coincides with the Memorial Day holiday, runs from May 20 to June 2, 2024. The overtime patrols are funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) with grants administered by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI).
“We want seat belt use to be an automatic habit for drivers and passengers alike,” said ICJI Traffic Safety Director. “Buckling up is the simplest thing you can do to limit injury or save your life during a crash.”
Indiana’s seat belt use rate in 2023 was 93.2%, which is good — but it can be better. The other 6.8% still need to be reminded that seat belts save lives.
Research has repeatedly demonstrated the safety benefits of seat belts. Buckling up can reduce the risk of injury or death in a crash by up to 65%. Without a seat belt fastened, people can be ejected from a vehicle and killed.
“If the enforcement effort alerts people to the dangers of unrestrained driving, we’ll consider our mission to be a success,” said Sgt. Nick Winsett. “If you know a friend or a family member who does not buckle up when they drive, please ask them to consider changing their habits. Help us spread this lifesaving message before one more friend or family member is killed as a result of this senseless inaction. Seat belts save lives, and everyone — front seat and back, child and adult — needs to remember to buckle up.”
For more information on the Click It or Ticket seat belt enforcement mobilization, please visit
NHTSA.gov/ClickIt
SANTA FE
SANTA FE
GAVEL GAMUT By Jim Redwine
Peg and I spent more than half a century in the wonderful state of Indiana before heeding the sirens’, or perhaps coyotes’, irresistible call to head west. We still have a lot of family, countless friends and cherished memories of Lincoln’s boyhood state. Somehow, we have been blessed to remain in frequent contact with many of the bright and interesting Hoosiers who still help enrich our lives today even though we now live on the Osage Nation in Oklahoma where I was born and graduated from high school.
This past week we headed even further west to the Land of Enchantment, Santa Fe, New Mexico. It truly is enchanting with vistas that only that greatest artist, Mother Nature, can fully capture. However, in Santa Fe the only thing more impressive than the countless painters and sculptors was the world-class cuisine. Of note is the sticker-shock of both art and food, but worth it.
New Mexico has a history of human habitation going back thousands of years and as other places Osage County, Oklahoma and Posey County, Indiana for instance have a history of exploitation going back hundreds of years. But Peg and I were too enchanted by the benefits we received now to concern ourselves with the cultural nuances of past sins.
Our hotel was adjacent to a glorious Catholic church, The Chapel of Loretto, built in 1873 and still in service. For only $5 each we were able to experience why the nuns who founded the church sacrificed so much to preserve it.
Only one block south of our abode, The Inn at Loretto, was the remarkable round statehouse for the state of New Mexico. It was open to the public for free and was filled with exquisite art contributed by citizens.
Then one block north of our hotel was the Territorial Museum where for $12 each Peg and I spent four hours following history from the indigenous Pueblos, through the Spanish Conquistadors, General Lew Wallace of Ben Hur fame and the Lincoln County War involving Sheriff Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.
Next, we visited the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum which was three blocks from The Inn at Loretto. The price of admission was once again only $33 for Peg and me but bought us a simply incredible opportunity to see her art up close. And while those of you who know great art would surely see things I just don’t get; I have to say I was truly impressed by O’Keeffe’s painting of a white flower that sold at auction for $44 million dollars.
While Peg and I were besotted with the plethora of great art and food for which we owe our friend, Betty Stoabs of Osage County, a huge thank you for her guidance. The highlight of our trip was the too few hours we spent with two of our friends who also grew up in Osage County and now reside in Santa Fe.
Kay Hamilton, whose father was the famous sculptor Jim Hamilton, and Kay’s husband, Willie Grant, took the time to dine with us at the Luminaria Restaurant. Peg had often heard me speak about both of my childhood friends but had not met them. Once they all met it was Brigadoon and the once upon a time was our school years. We went to a small grade school then a small high school so we all knew who was good at what, such as Kay’s artistic talent and Willie’s exceptional wit; both remain vibrant. They well fit the Santa Fe mystique.
So, Gentle Reader, if you are looking to immerse yourself in art, history and fine food, Peg and I heartily recommend Santa Fe. We also advise, bring your camera and your credit card. Oh, and by the way, you are cautioned that Santa Fe is at an elevation of 7,200 feet that tends to restrict one’s breathing and tire one’s legs. Copious amounts of water is a good choice of beverage
For more Gavel Gamut articles go to www.jamesmredwine.com