FOOTNOTE: EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT information was provided by the EPD and posted by the City-County-County Observer without opinion, bias, or editing.
The Evansville Water and Sewer Utility (EWSU) is reaching out to provide important information regarding the sewer collapse and subsequent sinkhole at Chestnut St. and Riverside Dr. EWSU has created a video to provide historical background on the sewer structure in that area, explain what caused the initial sinkhole to appear, why the sewer collapse expanded and steps the Utility will take to replace the failed sewer infrastructure as quickly and safely as possible.
Please take time to watch the informational video on YouTube and share the link with your neighbors. If you want more information, send an email to: communication@ewsu.com.
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Evansville Otters (21-23) walked off the Florence Y’alls (17-27) to earn their first series sweep of the season, 11-10.
The Otters quickly fell behind in the ballgame when Florence scored three in the first inning. The offense didn’t back down though. In the bottom half of the first frame, Pavin Parks blasted a three-run home run over the right field wall to tie the game at three apiece heading into the second.
The Y’alls re-gained their lead quickly, putting four on the board in the second to make the score 7-3 midway through the second.
Evansville once again battled back, scoring one of their own in the bottom half. This was thanks to a two-out RBI single from David Mendham.
The bullpen came in for Evansville and settled things down. It began with Ryan Wiltse out of the pen, who tossed a scoreless third.
After Wiltse set the tone on the mound, the offense continued to stay hot. RBI Singles from JJ Cruz and Justin Felix made it a one run game at 7-6. Later on in the third, Mendham collected his second RBI hit in as many innings to tie it at seven after three innings.
Wiltse continued into the fifth where he threw another scoreless frame. Heading into the fifth, the score was still tied and Joan Gonzalez was called upon. He began his day by getting all three outs in the sixth via strikeout.
Gonzalez threw again in the sixth and collected his 100th career strikeout. He would finish his night going three innings and striking out four without allowing a run.
With the great performances from the bullpen, the offense followed suit. In the home half of the sixth, Parks hit his second home run of the night. It was a solo shot that gave Evansville their first lead of the night at 8-7.
This score would hold until the top of the eighth where Florence fought back. They scored three in the inning to take a two-run lead at 10-8.
Immediately after Florence’s rally, the Otters answered once again. With two outs and two strikes in the bottom of the eighth, JJ Cruz crushed a fastball over the right field wall to bring the Otters within one.
Entering the bottom of the ninth, Evansville trailed 10-9. Dennis Pierce reached thanks to a one-out single, followed by a Mendham single and JT Benson walk to load the bases. This brought up the walk off hero from Friday night, LJ Jones, to try and do the same tonight. On the first pitch he saw, he hit a hard liner over the left fielder’s head to bring in two and win the game.
The win was Evansville’s fourth walk off win of the season and second off the bat of Jones. The Otters’ swept Florence this weekend, all three games decided by just one run.
Two Otters celebrated milestone moments Sunday. Gonzalez hit the 100 strikeout mark with his fourth strikeout of the game and Parks reached 300 career RBI after his solo homer in the sixth.
The Otters are back in action Tuesday when the Mississippi Mud Monsters return to town. It is a Fifth Third Bank $2 Tuesday for the series opener at 6:35 p.m. CT.
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Opposition against solar farms can be loud in the usually quiet, rural outskirts of Indiana.
White signs with variations of the words “Stop Solar” are often posted in front of soybean and corn fields, nailed to telephone poles and stationed in the front yards of the state’s many quaint farm houses.
Websites and opposition groups have sprung up all across the state and country. Stop Solar Farms, Stop Solar USA and Citizens for Responsible Solar are some of the organizations that express concern about solar projects.
But in Starke County in Northwest Indiana, Billy Bope has not put up a “Stop Solar” sign in his front yard. He is a farmer who has benefitted from a solar farm project.
Mammoth North Solar sits on more than 4,500 acres, including Bope’s. A 400-megawatt facility owned by Doral Renewables, based in Philadelphia, it produces enough electricity to supply around 75,000 homes across the Midwest.
Through its heavily invested use of agrivoltaics—the process of simultaneously using land both for energy production and agriculture—a symbiotic relationship with farmers has blossomed.
“It just makes sense,” said Christopher Kline, development manager for Doral Renewables.
The bright side
Bope’s family has always raised livestock. Farming has been passed down through the generations, from his 91-year-old father to Bope’s son. Mammoth North Solar has become a gateway for the practice to continue—the fields and pasture lands just look a little different.
Wildlife-friendly fencing is used around the solar panels on the Mammoth North Solar farm in Starke County.
Today, his flock of sheep graze beneath solar panels while sheepdogs like the Great Pyrenees watch over them. One 130-acre plot of land holds an estimated 500 sheep, around half lambs. Recently, Bope tried something new: The sheep had their lambs inside the solar fields, and the results were pleasantly surprising. Overall, the lambs were healthier and the birth process had fewer complications.
Bope said the solar panels provide shade for the animals as they graze, which significantly decreases their stress. The result is healthier, happier animals.
In exchange, the sheep have kept vegetation low, preventing grasses from growing to a height that would otherwise shade the solar panels and diminish their productivity. It also means that in the pasture areas of Mammoth North Solar, the company doesn’t need to pay for mowing services or herbicides, reducing the negative environmental impacts that would otherwise result.
Bope and the many other farmers who now farm on land that they leased to Mammoth North Solar have highlighted the potential for dual use and maximizing land when it comes to solar farms.
Kunekune pigs, alpacas, donkeys and, at one point, runner ducks have also lived within some of the fences of Mammoth North Solar, and there are plans to try cattle herds in the future. Doral Renewables is considering having beehives as well—a practice that other solar farms have used.
Grazing on solar fields isn’t a new idea—it has been used in Southwest states like Texas. In Indiana, with more rain, solar panels are less likely to be affected by dust and more likely to be affected by tall grasses. Grazing is an alternative.
Aside from livestock farming, around half of Mammoth North Solar’s land is located outside the solar fields. Regulations require solar fields to be set back 50-100 feet from roads and other properties. At Mammoth North Solar, farmers use these spaces to grow soybeans, corn, hay and wheat. Other setbacks that are not farmed are planted with native grasses and pollinator species.
Many of these methods could be more environmentally friendly than the lone corn and soybean fields that were originally there. Fencing is made to be wildlife friendly, and native grasses, even with sheep grazing on them, have fostered Indiana’s native ecosystems, said Kline. Bope has noticed an increase in native songbird species in the area. The grasses are also better at sequestering carbon compared to corn and soybeans.
Kline said Doral Renewables hires different consultants like ecologists to ensure that any harmful environmental impact of its projects are reduced.
“If we’re grazing sheep, maybe we’re shifting it from growing corn and beans to pastureland, where we’re grazing animals—we’re still farming,” Kline said.
He said that farmers have a history of evolving with the needs of the public, recalling something a Mammoth North Solar farmer once told him. When horses were the main method of transportation, they grew oats and hay to feed them. During the oil crisis of the 1970s and ‘80s, they grew corn for ethanol as a replacement. Now, as electric vehicles and data centers ramp up the energy needs of the country, farmers like Bope are beginning to support the electrical grid.
“Farmers change, change how they use the land,” Kline said.
When harvesting energy, solar farms produce no greenhouse gases, although materials required to make solar panels have manufacturing processes that do. At its most efficient, solar power is also the cheapest form of energy. Unless the sky is pitch black, solar panels are always harvesting energy and are designed to change position depending on weather in order to maximize energy production and keep the panels safe from damage.
The solar panels are also easily removed from the ground if needed, making it easy to convert the land back to farming fields once the project is decommissioned. Mammoth North Solar also pays economic development funds to the county, which puts money back into the community.
Locally, the solar panels have faded into the background, and it seems most concerns have as well.
The darker truths
Like any other solar project, Mammoth North Solar faced opposition. The project site is a rural farming community. The flat, treeless fields of northern and central Indiana are often sought after by solar farmers because they are easily built on and have miles of empty space. Having fewer people around also means fewer people are affected as compared to urban areas.
As a result, farming communities are usually the most directly affected by solar projects. In the lower 48 states, 40% of farmland is leased to farmers. If a property owner sells that land for a solar facility, the critical source of revenue can be lost. Those involved in the farming business through fertilizers, machinery and feed are affected too. In this way, solar farms can disrupt the cycle of agriculture.
Farmland has continued to decrease across the nation for years. From 2010 to 2022, 345,682 acres of farmland were lost in Indiana. It’s only a 1.89% decrease, but a decrease nonetheless. In the Hoosier state, agriculture alone provides over $35 billion to the state’s economy.
In comparison, solar farms require more surface area than coal or natural gas to produce the same amount of energy. Even then, although solar panels can still harvest energy when the sun is hidden, they do so less efficiently.
Citizens for Responsible Solar declined to interview with TheStatehouseFile.com, and Stop Solar Farms, Stop Solar USA did not respond to inquiries. Citizens for Responsible Solar does list its concerns on its website, however. They include solar power plants harming ecosystems and rural land and contributing to climate change, its driving force being big tech and federal subsidies, and its toxic waste production, unreliability and failure to be completed emissions free.
“Solar belongs on rooftops, near highways, commercial industrial zoned land, marginal or contaminated areas, not on rural-agricultural land,” the Citizens for Responsible Solar website states.
Some companies invest in rooftop and commercial solar power located in urban and commercial areas. However, solar companies are often more drawn to the hundreds of acres of farm fields that even warehouse rooftops cannot compare to in size. Additionally, roofs must be structurally sound and able to support solar panels. The added weight also makes repairs more difficult if damages occur..
Farmland often seems to be the best option for solar companies, often at the cost of the agricultural industry.
If the consequences do not involve farmland, they sometimes involve forests. Some solar projects have caused significant deforestation.
The solar industry has also become known for producing vast amounts of toxic waste. In 2050, researchers expect solar panel waste to reach an estimated 78 million metric tonnes. The technology of solar power is rapidly advancing as well—as more efficient, cheaper solar panels are developed, the old ones are discarded. Toxic chemicals like lead, antimony, cadmium and plastics are found in solar panels. This makes them difficult to recycle and dispose of safely. Discarding solar panels in landfills can expose the soil to toxic materials.
Mining some of these toxic materials also contributes to a carbon footprint. Harvesting solar energy itself may produce no carbon emissions, but the materials that some solar panels are made of require processes that do. Silicon, silver, lithium and other materials used to manufacture solar panels are extracted using processes that release greenhouse gases and environmental contaminants. Manufacturing facilities for solar panels may also be powered by nonrenewable energy sources like oil or coal.
What’s on the horizon?
“When you talk about energy and when you talk about our national energy needs, there’s not just one solution,” Kline said. “It’s not just one source of energy is what we need. It’s definitely a mix. And solar has a key role in that mix and a growing role.”
In Pulaski County, Doral Renewables broke ground a few years ago for Mammoth Central and South. Combined with Mammoth North, the Mammoth Solar project is expected to produce 1.3 gigawatts—enough for 275,000 houses annually. In total, all three projects will sit on 13,000 acres. The construction, similar to Mammoth North, has provided jobs for carpenters, electricians, heavy equipment operators and other craftworkers within the community.
Mammoth South and Central are expected to go online in 2027, bringing even more renewable energy onto the energy grid through MISO and PJM—operators of the electric grid across the Midwest.
Counties across the state, such as Henry, Hendricks, Hamilton and Boone, continue to restrict and push back against solar projects, and different requirements depending on the area make solar farm implementation difficult.
Kline feels that misinformation concerning solar facilities is easily spread and could be a reason for pushback across Indiana.
But he also believes that the more energy a society uses, the more successful and healthy it is.
“There is a reason that the government promotes energy production, and solar is a part of that,” he said.
Today, just over 4% of Indiana energy is solar, and that number is expected to rise. Kline thinks the future is bright.
As solar facilities continue to grow, the question is, who will retain their white “Stop Solar” signs and who will put them away?
Olivia O’Neal is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news site powered by Franklin College journalism students.
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In response to the decision from the Indiana General Assembly to cut funding to the state college system, Ivy Tech Community College announced the end of its free summer classes for high-school students and made 202 layoffs across the state.
In Ivy Tech President Sue Ellspermann’s letter to employees sent on May 30, she said state higher education funding was cut by 5% in addition to the State Budget Agency possibly withholding 5% of the school’s allocated funds, resulting in a potential loss of $54 million over the next two years.
Emily Sandberg, assistant vice president of communications and public affairs at Ivy Tech, confirmed that the 202 layoffs consisted of roughly 3% of the college’s total workforce. This included 38 faculty, 162 staff and two administrative faculty members across six different campuses: Indianapolis, Bloomington, Columbus, Kokomo, Evansville and South Bend.
In addition to these changes, free summer college classes for Indiana high-school students are going away for at least 2025. Ivy Tech estimates it lost $12 million in tuition revenue through the program in the three years it was offered. The average student saved approximately $1,000 in tuition and fees.
Rep. Earl Harris Jr., D-East Chicago, chair of the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus, gave some comments on the potential impact of these new changes.
“Too many young Hoosiers struggle to achieve a higher education due to unreasonable costs. Free summer college classes help high school students—especially low-income students—acquire college credits that will help them save money when they work on their degree in the future,” Harris said in an email. “As a lawmaker, I’ve worked to make education more accessible for all Hoosiers, and this move will further limit the number of Hoosiers who are able to afford an education.”
This being the only free summer course program in the state, students are left with fewer opportunities to get a head start on college. Harris said these cuts alongside the 202 layoffs threaten the quality of education for future college students.
“Institutes of higher education play a fundamental role in strengthening our state, our workforce and our economy. These funding cuts will limit the quality of the services they are able to provide to students. It’s likely that those who have the option will further their education outside of Indiana, and those getting their degree in our state may be ill-prepared to thrive in the workforce,” Harris said.
More than 6,400 students participated in the free program last summer, and Ivy Tech expected demand to grow by more than 2,000 students this year.
“This is a challenging moment for our College, but I know Ivy Tech is strong. I remain confident in our resilience and in our commitment to our students and to one another,” Ellspermann said. “Together, we will navigate this period with compassion, integrity, and a continued focus on our educational mission.”
Luke Shepherd is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news site powered by Franklin College journalism students.
Dr. Cynthia Chatterjee had long opposed medical aid in dying—until she watched her father suffering from terminal cancer. His pain was unbearable. But in his final moments, there was peace.
Three minutes after taking the medication he knew would end his life, her father fell asleep, she recalled. Within 15 minutes, he died.
“There was no struggling or gasping for breath, which had been his greatest fear,” she said. “I came away from my father’s death wishing that everyone could have the opportunity to have such a peaceful passing.”
In most of America, that option doesn’t exist. However, there is a growing conversation across the country. Lawmakers in 25 states have filed legislation related to the practice, though not all are considering legalization bills.
The practice, which allows doctors to prescribe life-ending medication to terminally ill patients, is currently legal in 10 states and Washington, D.C. Oregon became the first state to legalize it in 1997 under its Death With Dignity Act. The other states are California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Vermont and Washington.
A 2022 study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society said 5,329 people died using medical aid in the United States from 1998 to 2020. During that time, 8,451 people requested and received a prescription for the medication. About 22% of Americans—74 million people—live in jurisdictions where assisted dying is legal, the study found.
This year, 27 bills were proposed in legislatures to legalize assisted dying in 18 states. This has been common over the years, as similar bills have failed to make it through the legislative process.
In states where physician-assisted dying is legal, safeguards are in place. Generally, a patient must be an adult with a terminal diagnosis and have less than six months to live, confirmed by at least two physicians. The patients must make multiple verbal and written requests and undergo a waiting period, which varies by state. There are also safeguards to prevent coercion and ensure the patient is capable of making decisions independently.
Some states are looking to legalize the practice
In 2024, 71% of Americans believed doctors should legally be able to end the life of a patient who has an incurable disease if the patient or …
Strong political will exists in Illinois, Delaware and New York to move legislation legalizing assisted dying forward, according to Elizabeth Armijo, national director of legislative advocacy at Compassion & Choices.
In Illinois, a measuresponsored by Sen. Linda Holmes and several other senators proposes safeguards such as dual physician assessments and mandatory counselling sessions for the patient.
“Losing someone you love is tough. Watching someone you love suffer is worse,” Holmes said during a committee hearing as she talked about witnessing her parents struggle with cancer. The bill is awaiting a full hearing in the Senate. The deadline for a third reading is May 23.
In New York, Assemblywoman Amy Paulin and Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal have reintroduced a bill supported by 72% of New Yorkers, a poll by interest groups Death With Dignity and the Completed Life Initiative found, including majorities across political and demographic groups.
“Support has continued to grow among New Yorkers for this compassionate end-of-life option,” Paulin said in a statement, according to City and State New York.
Jonathan Thaler, whose mother died in New Jersey, has been a vocal supporter of the bill, which as of May 16 had passed the Assembly and awaited a vote in New York’s Senate.
“When speaking about her coming death, my mother said, ‘Make sure that we use the right terms. I am not committing suicide; I am using medical aid in dying,’” he said in January. “Mom died peacefully and gracefully, surrounded by her loved ones, after living a full life. Governor Hochul, you have the opportunity to provide a true blessing to the people of New York.”
Dr. Jeremy Boal, former chief clinical officer at Mount Sinai, supports the bill as both a physician and as someone who witnessed medical aid in dying firsthand. “If this law is passed, not one more person will die as a result of its passage. But many fewer will suffer. Of that I am confident. Medical aid in dying is a blessing for all of us,” he said in January.
In Delaware, the medical aid in dying bill passed the House in March and the Senate on April 17. The bill, which allows people who have fewer than six months to live, awaits action by Gov. Matt Meyer. A similar bill passed last year was vetoed by the former governor.
Lawmakers in Massachusetts are also taking another attempt at the legislation; a new rule sets a deadline of June 1 to take a call on the bill.
“Seventy-nine percent of residents support it,” said Melissa Stacy, New England campaign manager for Compassion & Choices. “We have 30 years of data from Washington and Oregon showing that the safeguards work.”
Massachusetts Sen. Jo Comerford, who introduced the bill, said it “offers a compassionate option to allow mentally capable patients with terminal diagnoses to choose a peaceful, humane death with dignity.”
In Tennessee, attempts to legalize medical aid in dying have failed repeatedly. This year, House Democrat Rep. Bob Freeman introduced the Dignity in Death bill, which died in the committee. In Arizona, two Death with Dignity bills were introduced by Democrats but failed to advance to committee hearings. It was the 11th time a similar bill had been introduced since 2003 without any movement.
States are looking to amend existing laws
Washington state Rep. Strom Peterson, a Democrat from Edmonds, introduced legislation to expand access to the state’s Death With Dignity Act by reducing mandatory waiting periods for patients in severe decline.
State law currently allows terminally ill patients to request life-ending medication but stipulates patients must make two verbal requests to die during interviews with physicians, separated by a seven-day waiting period and followed by a written request.
This year’s bill sought to shorten the waiting period in certain cases, providing streamlined access to patients in extreme pain and at risk of soon losing cognitive or physical ability. The bill failed to make it out of committee this year, but Peterson said he plans to introduce it again next year.
His motivation for sponsoring the bill is personal. After witnessing his mother’s smooth experience with New Mexico’s more flexible aid-in-dying laws, Peterson saw the need for changes to Washington’s law.
New Jersey is making similar attempts to remove waiting periods. Advocates argue that existing waiting periods can unnecessarily prolong suffering. Oregon and Vermont are also considering legislation to allow certified physician assistants and nurse practitioners to participate in the assisted-dying process. Supporters say this would enhance accessibility and address physician shortages.
Opposition to the issue
Jessica Rodgers, coalition director at Patients Rights Action Fund, is firmly against medical aid in dying measures. Her personal experience of caring for her terminally ill mother profoundly shaped her advocacy against physician-assisted dying. Chief among her concerns is fear that legalizing assisted death creates a lower standard of care for the terminally ill.
“Instead of coming around them and providing support, states where this is legal have a policy saying, ‘This is a valid reason for you to kill yourself,'” Rodgers said.
The Illinois bill has also faced significant criticism.
“I have a problem with the vulnerable people that we’re putting at risk by allowing active participation in death by allowing doctors and the government essentially to allow who decides who dies and when. I think that’s unacceptable,” Dr. Kevin Garner, a physician from Granite City, said during an Illinois Senate committee hearing.
In Massachusetts, the bill has not passed despite being discussed in the Legislature for 13 years, largely due to lobbying efforts from opposition groups.
“The majority of people choose this option not because of pain but because they feel like a burden on society,” said John Kelly, director of Second Thoughts Massachusetts.
One of the biggest concerns, according to opponents, is that errors could happen while treating terminally ill patients. Anita Cameron, director of minority outreach for a disability rights group that opposes medical aid in dying, narrated the story of misjudgment by the doctor in her mother’s case.
“The doctor told my mom she was going to die very soon, and she was convinced she was dying soon and hence wanted to opt for physician-assisted suicide. However, luckily, she didn’t and lived for 12 years,” Cameron said. “A lot of times such misjudgments happen, and it is very concerning.”
Health care groups weigh in
The American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine maintains a neutral stance on the issue but raises concerns about potential impacts on medical integrity. In contrast, organizations such as the American College of Legal Medicine and the American Public Health Association support medical aid in dying, emphasizing the importance of strict safeguards.
Supporters faced a potential setback in Montana, where Senate Bill 136, introduced by Sen. Carl Glimm would have invalidated patient consent as a defense in physician-assisted death cases.
“Physicians should not be helping people commit suicide,” said Sen. Carl Glimm, whose bill would have criminalized the practice. “It endangers the weak and vulnerable. It corrupts the practice of medicine. It compromises the family and betrays human dignity.”
Supporters of the bill said it could help reduce the suicide rate in Montana, which ranked first in the nation in 2022, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control. But opponents fear it will drive suffering patients into silence—or worse, despair.
A lot of opposition is deeply rooted in the belief that improving health care is the solution and not choosing to die.
“Instead of legalizing physician-assisted suicide, the state should work on improving palliative care for terminally ill people,” said John Kelly, New England regional director for the advocacy group Not Dead Yet.
Supporters believe that patients deserve control over their lives. “It’s something that always has to be driven by the patient. The patient initiates that conversation and that discussion,” said Geoff Sugerman, a national policy advisor for Death With Dignity.
Armijo also underscored the deeply personal nature of these decisions: “It’s about having the autonomy to make personal decisions for yourself at the end of life. You’ve made decisions about everything else in your life, and this shouldn’t be any different.”
TheStatehouseFile.com is publishing this article as part of the Statehouse Reporting Project, a collaborative effort by collegiate journalism programs operating in statehouses across the country.
Emma Schwichtenberg from the University of Washington, Natanya Friedheim from the University of Missouri and Erin Bruce from Franklin College contributed to this story.
Bridgette Edwards is going to college.
The 18-year-old graduated from Cloverdale High School last month despite a “rocky” start. After two years enrolled in career success classes with roots in dropout prevention, she’s gained a “family” of classmates, a “father figure” of a teacher and a vision for her future.
It’s “surreal,” she told the Capital Chronicle.
“Freshman-year me would have never thought that now I’d be going to Indiana State University and going to pursue my dreams,” Edwards said. “I just got an apartment for myself and all that. She definitely would have probably slapped me in the face, like, ‘You’re lying to me; what are you talking about?’”
Edwards is among thousands of Hoosier students participating in the Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) program. After undergoing a massive expansion, Indiana now hosts 250 sites — the nation’s largest network, according to the Department of Workforce Development (DWD). The agency oversees JAG in Indiana.
But JAG is expected to shrink to 30 or fewer sites by the end of the year.
Within just six months of hitting the 250-site goal, the program’s dedicated state funding was eliminated. Federal dollars shared by other agencies were deemed “unavailable.”
That’s left administrators, parents, teachers and students in the lurch — and trying preserve some remnants.
“This is ending the JAG program as we have come to know it in the state of Indiana,” Indiana Workforce Alliance Chair Tony Waterson said. The organization represents the 12 local workforce development boards that administer JAG in Indiana.
“Now, can it be reinvented? Yes. Will it sustain in some fashion? Most likely, (but) on a much, much reduced scale,” said Waterson, who is also president and CEO of board Southern Indiana Works.
The model dates back to 1979 in Delaware, but former Gov. Mitch Daniels brought it to Indiana in 2006 to address the state’s “growing dropout crisis,” according to a DWD timeline.
JAG participants often face challenges that make it more likely they won’t complete high school or successfully transition into what lies after graduation. They may be low-income, first-generation, struggling with transportation, lacking workforce experience or marketable skills, and so on, per the national organization’s annual report.
In its first year, the program served 217 students at 12 schools.
It’s educated 45,000 since then. And it was set to serve more.
The expansion, which was fully implemented this year and doubled program sites from 125 to 250, was expected to impact 10,000 students annually.
Participants take elective, for-credit classes taught by specialists who also provide advice and other support. They meet multiple times each week, building close relationships.
“When we first got into our class, … you had your friends, but you didn’t really know everybody. But once we got to the end of the year, everybody was like a family,” Edwards said.
She recalled career association days featuring healthy student debate alongside visits from working professionals and educational institutions.
People are nice about it, right? Like, ‘Oh, here’s some options.’ But we’re not really going to be able to go to a private foundation and ask for $30 million annually for the foreseeable future, right? … That’s just not something that’s realistic.
– Indiana Workforce Alliance Chair Tony Waterson
She’d long harbored dreams of becoming a nurse, but a school resource officer’s presentation prompted a new dream. Now, Edwards will enter college studying criminology and criminal justice, with the goal of becoming a forensic scientist or police officer.
JAG, she said, “made me understand more of what I wanted to be for the rest of my life.” She’s also learned how to manage a credit card, present herself professionally to adults and more.
That’s thanks to specialist Karl Turk, whom she called “a father figure to me.” Edwards’ biological father died when she was 11.
But employees like him are in jeopardy.
There are “close to 300 JAG team members whose budget just went from $27 million to, you know, zero,” Waterson said. Some roles may be retained, but “there’s going to be a loss of jobs.”
“Every JAG specialist is touching, you know, 40 to 60 kids. And so now you’re impacting them and their lives as well,” he added. “… It’s a tough day, you know, tough week, tough month, tough budget cycle.”
DWD previously received $8 million per year for JAG via a “dropout prevention” line item in the state’s biennial budget.
Gov. Mike Braun kept that in his version of House Enrolled Act 1001.
House Republicans scrapped DWD’s line item and instead included “dropout prevention” under the lengthy list of ways the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) could spend an $86 million “Freedom and Opportunity in Education” funds.
“When JAG funding was eliminated in DWD’s budget, it did not get moved to IDOE,” spokeswoman Courtney Bearsch said in a statement to the Capital Chronicle.
The Senate GOP maintained this in later versions of the budget.
But, with just a week to finalize the legislation, fiscal leaders received a grim revenue forecast — and embarked on major cuts.
“You know, when you’re all of a sudden hit with a budget that says you’re going to have little over a billion less each year, a lot of stuff got caught in the crossfire,” Braun told reporters last week.
The fund was allotted $50 million in the final version. That’s the same amount of money IDOE got for literacy and a similar list of other efforts in the last budget. And, like most agencies, it was hit with a 5% budget cut and directed to withhold additional dollars.
“Due to significant budget constraints, the IDOE will also not be able to utilize state funding to sustain JAG,” DWD Chief Workforce Officer Katie Rounds wrote in a late May program update.
Indiana’s fiscal year – and JAG’s line item funding – ends June 30. The next begins July 1.
The line item isn’t even the largest source of funding cut from JAG.
A collaboration with the Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) was set to direct an additional $23.1 million in federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) dollars to fund the expansion, former Gov. Eric Holcomb announced in August 2023. That goal became reality in December 2024, per DWD.
The agency spent $13.3 million from TANF on JAG in the current program cycle — which overlaps with the state fiscal year — but FSSA is closing the spigot in August.
Rounds wrote that the TANF money is now “unavailable” for JAG.
That came as a shock to Waterson and his fellow workforce development board leaders.
“It was a question we asked repeatedly as we ramped up from 125 to 250: was the funding secure into the future? … And we were assured that that funding was secured,” he recounted.
To pull off the expansion, workforce development board members met with students, parents, teachers and administrators at middle schools, high schools and higher educational institutions.
“They signed and bought into the idea of it,” Waterson said. “They said, ‘Okay, we trust you.’ We hired staff.”
“We wouldn’t have done all that had we thought that this was even a possibility,” he added.
Students who’d joined in an initial round of the expansion would’ve been entering their second year of JAG come August, while those part of a later round would’ve gotten started at that point.
“We’ve told these these kids that, you know, you’re committing to us for two years when you do this — actually, three years, because there’s a follow-up period,” Waterson continued. “And now we’re saying, ‘Wait, no, we can’t.’”
Another slice of federal funding contributed by FSSA, typically worth $1.5 million annually, also won’t come JAG’s way. The Vocational Rehabilitation Pre-Employment Transition Services dollars supported disabled student participation for at least five years, according to DWD, including $2.2 million this program cycle.
“For that money to be available, you have to have … non-federal matching funds,” Waterson explained. “That gets dicey if there’s no state allocation.”
JAG’s only intact source of public funding may be federal legislation that expired five years ago. Initiatives under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act (WIOA) operate through annual appropriations, according to bipartisan group Center Forward. About $2.5 million in WIOA Youth funding went to JAG this cycle, as is typical.
But the money also comes with complex requirements — and deep uncertainty about how Congress will fund it going forward.
That leaves private and philanthropic dollars, which added more than $1.2 million to JAG this cycle.
“People are nice about it, right? Like, ‘Oh, here’s some options.’ But we’re not really going to be able to go to a private foundation and ask for $30 million annually for the foreseeable future, right?” Waterson said. “That’s just not something that’s realistic.”
JAG and other efforts hit in last-minute cuts could “be reconstituted,” according to Braun.
“That is going to be part of — on every agency, every program, we’re going to make sure that it’s being run well, (and it) may end up needing more resources if it’s been starved of it,” he said.
But potential aid in the future won’t stave off closures now.
They’ll likely occur in two waves, according to Waterson: most programs that were supposed to begin in August won’t, and most of those that do will shut down after the first semester.
In the meantime, he and other workforce development board leaders are regrouping.
“We are trying to find ways to salvage programming and salvage service to young people, either through alternative partnerships or alternative funding mechanisms,” said Edmond C. O’Neal III, president and CEO of Northeast Indiana Works.
O’Neal’s board is also rethinking how it structures program delivery.
Instead of assuming that one JAG specialist equals one site, he said, “I’d prefer to try to leverage those … people to service as many kids as we can.”
Five specialists, for example, could travel to handle 15 sites, although that introduces logistical challenges.
“It sucks,” Edwards said of JAG’s dim prospects.
“I just don’t think a lot of people are really seeing the good things that come out of it; they just see the academic value,” she added. “Even the students that people may think are quote-unquote ‘a lost cause,’ even those kids, it helps them a lot, getting out of trouble, learning their value of life.”
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