Throughout the summer months the Indiana State Police and Indiana Conservation Officers will participate in many extra patrols to target impaired operators. While troopers will focus on impaired drivers of motor vehicles, Indiana Conservation Officers will take to the Indiana waterways and focus their attention on impaired boat operators. Remember, whether you are operating a motor vehicle or a motor boat while under the influence of drugs or alcohol it is all illegal and dangerous.

A video detailing a joint effort of Indiana Conservation Officers and Indiana State Police to address boating and driving while intoxicated can be found at Youtube.com/idnrvideos. Media is encouraged to play all or portions of this 37 second PSA in news casts. City and County agencies with public access television channels may use the PSA as well.

The following information is from a news release dated June 13, 2013 from the DNR Division of Law Enforcement on an upcoming initiative they will be involved in. Any questions should be directed to Lt. William Browne DNR Division of Law Enforcement, (317) 232-0658.

Awareness campaign targets dangers of boating under the influence

Indiana Conservation Officers will join a national campaign in late June aimed at creating a heightened public awareness of the dangers of boating under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Operation Dry Water (ODW) is scheduled for June 28-30, just before the Fourth of July.

ODW (www.OperationDryWater.org) is a nationwide education and enforcement initiative developed by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) in partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard.

Since ODW launched in 2009, the percentage of boating fatalities in the United States in which alcohol is listed as a contributing factor has decreased from 19 percent to 17 percent. Despite the decrease, boating while intoxicated (BWI) accounts for a disproportionate number of on-the-water deaths. In 2011, alcohol was a contributing factor in just 8 percent of boating accidents overall but figured in 17 percent of boating fatalities.

In Indiana, the blood-alcohol limit for boat operators is the same as for vehicle drivers – 0.08. However, studies show that boat operators become impaired by alcohol sooner than people on land because of the motion of the boat, the glare and heat of the sun, and dehydration from sweating.

Boat operators convicted of boating while intoxicated can lose their boat operating and vehicle driving privileges, and face jail time and fees.

According to Indiana Conservation Officers, the safest plan is to have a designated boat operator who is not drinking alcohol.

Citizens often report intoxicated boaters to authorities, which demonstrates an increased public awareness that law-abiding boaters are concerned about safety.

“Keeping our lakes, rivers and reservoirs safe takes an effort from all of us, and we appreciate the efforts of our safe boaters,” said Lt. Kenton Turner, boating law administrator for the DNR Division of Law Enforcement.

The Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey will be hosting players from all Tropicana Entertainment gaming properties, including Tropicana Evansville, to play in their exclusive 2nd Annual $250,000 Slot Star Championship Tournament on Friday, June 21st and Saturday, June 22nd!

Twelve of Tropicana Evansville’s best slot players qualified for the $250,000 Slot Star Championship Tournament by participating in the Tropicana Evansville Point Challenge from April 1 through May 31, 2013. These players, along with their guests, will travel to Atlantic City, New Jersey for this exciting event.

Tropicana Evansville invites you to visit with our lucky players and Tropicana Evansville representatives before they depart on their chartered flight from Evansville’s Tri-State Aero at 2:30PM on Thursday, June 20, 2013.

Please come and wish these players “good luck” – one of them could return $100,000 richer as Tropicana Entertainment’s SLOT STAR CHAMPION!

For more information, contact Stacey McNeill, Tropicana Evansville Director of Marketing, at 812-433-4069 or Stacey.Mcneill@tropevansville.com

Tropicana Entertainment Inc is a publicly traded company that, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates eight casinos and resorts in Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey and Aruba. Tropicana properties collectively have approximately 6,046 rooms, 7,121 slot positions and 231 table games. The company is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Jeffrey Weisheit, 37, was found guilty in Clark County Circuit Court of Two Counts of Murder and One Count of Arson, a Class A Felony. The same jury that convicted Weisheit will now begin hearing sentencing testimony to decide Weisheit’s punishment.

Testimony in the sentencing phase is scheduled to begin tomorrow morning and is expected to last at least through the end of the week. After hearing the testimony presented in the penalty phase, the jury can recommend a sentence of death, life imprisonment, or a term of years.

Weisheit was convicted of the murder of Caleb and Alyssa Lynch in April of 2010. After starting the house where the kids were living on fire, Weisheit led police on a chase that ultimately ended in him throwing a hunting knife at police before being tasered and arrested.

Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Nicholas Hermann said, “Over the last three years, this case has taken an emotional toll not only on the family of the victims and the emergency personnel involved in the investigation, but the community as a whole. Hopefully this verdict provides some sense of closure for all of those involved. We would like to thank everyone who participated in the investigation and prosecution of this case.”

For further information on the case listed above, or any pending case, please contact Kyle Phernetton at 812.435.5688 or contact via email at KPhernetton@vanderburghgov.org.

Under Indiana law, all criminal defendants are considered to be innocent until proven guilty by a court of law.

After careful consideration I have decided that I will not be attending the meeting tonight at the Vanderburgh County Democrat Party Headquarters. As a member of the Evansville City Council from the 6th Ward, my job is to represent the best interest of my constituents when it comes to casting my one vote on each piece of City of Evansville business that comes before the City Council.

The Sunshine Laws of the State of Indiana make it clear that no more than 5 members of a 9 member City Council can be at the same place at the same time when city business is being discussed outside of an official public meeting. I feel that tonight’s meeting is one that has potential of having official City of Evansville business brought up by non-council members in attendance to push one agenda or another. I have thought this one over and given the fact that all 8 of the Democrats on the City Council have been invited and that there is open public vocal support among local Democrat Party leadership for both the downtown convention hotel and the Johnson Controls projects, I do not see how these subjects will not be pushed for discussion by non-council members in attendance. For this reason I want no part of being put in a situation where Sunshine Laws could be violated.

I do invite any and all of my constituents from the 6th Ward to let me know what you think about the City of Evansville subsidizing a hotel to the tune of $37.5 Million and spending $46 Million to replace the water meters. I am your public servant and will cast my vote for the will of the people of the 6th Ward who hired me to do this job in the first place. There is no private agenda that means more to me than the will of the people of the 6th Ward and this city.

Al Lindsey, Evansville City Councilman, 6th Ward