| The Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs’ Community Development Block Grant Recovery Housing Program is now open for applications.
The Recovery Housing Program provides funds to assist rural communities and their non-profit partners, if applicable, to establish or expand transitional recovery housing services for individuals recovering from substance abuse disorder. Proposals for the program will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. ET, on Sunday, Dec. 21, via the Indiana electronic Grants Management System, found here. Applicants are encouraged to submit their proposals prior to 4 p.m. ET on Friday, Dec. 19, as technical assistance will not be available after that time. Applications for the Recovery Housing Program will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. ET, on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. Applicants are encouraged to submit their applications prior to 3 p.m. ET on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, as technical assistance will not be available after that time. Instructions on how to submit proposals and applications can be found at in.gov/ocra/cdbg/rhp/. Funding for all CDBG programs, such as RHP, comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and is administered by OCRA. For further information on these programs, contact the assigned regional OCRA community liaison. |
Recovery Housing Program now open for applications
Hoosier History Highlights
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Riley Partnership Expands UE’s Reach in Mental Health Education and Care
EVANSVILLE, IND. (11/14/2025) A new partnership between Riley Children’s Health, Indiana University School of Medicine, and the University of Evansville (UE) will expand mental health training and care across Southwest Indiana, the institutions jointly announced Friday during Be the Light: A Celebration of Hope. In addition to announcing the new collaboration, the event brought together university officials, donors, and community partners to honor the individuals and families whose philanthropy has made a lasting impact on UE’s growing mental health initiatives.
The new Riley partnership, spearheaded by longtime university and Riley benefactors Lisa and Bob Jones, includes the creation of a Psychology Practicum at Riley Children’s Health/IU School of Medicine and an Annual Psychology Symposium that will unite behavioral health professionals, faculty, and students from Riley and the Evansville community. Together, these efforts will provide UE Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) students with valuable clinical experience and help address the growing need for youth mental and behavioral health services.
“Every child deserves access to compassionate, expert mental health care and that begins with training and supporting the professionals who will provide it,” said Leslie Hulvershorn, M.D., a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Riley Children’s Health and chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the IU School of Medicine. “Thanks to Bob and Lisa Jones and their generous gift, this partnership gives future psychologists hands-on experience while meeting an urgent need. It’s a meaningful step toward brighter futures for children and families across Indiana.”
The donation is part of the Riley Children’s Foundation Every Child Deserves Riley $300 million comprehensive fundraising campaign. A key priority of the campaign includes enhancing access to evidence-based youth mental health services.
Bob Jones is a Riley Children’s Foundation board member and will be stepping down this year after 20 years of distinguished service. Jones also served as Chair of the UE Board of Trustees prior to transitioning from the role earlier this year.
As part of Friday’s announcements, UE also revealed that the Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) program will now be named the Koch Family Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology Program, honoring the visionary generosity of the Koch family. Their foundational support in 2021 has inspired a powerful network of partnerships, helping to expand mental health access, education, and clinical training across the region.
In loving memory of Emily M. Young, daughter of Judge Richard L. and Roseann Young, Lisa and Bob Jones generously provided a lead gift to establish the Emily M. Young Assessment Center within the UE Mental Health and Wellness Clinic in 2023. During Friday’s celebration, UE also announced the rededication of the clinic and the assessment center as the UE Emily M. Young Mental Health Clinic, recognizing Emily’s legacy and the continued leadership philanthropy of the Jones family.
Philanthropy has fueled every stage of UE’s expanding impact in this area.
“The generosity of the Jones family, the Koch family, and so many others continues to create pathways of hope-honoring lives, strengthening communities, and preparing the next generation of compassionate mental health professionals,” said University President Christopher M. Pietruszkiewicz. “The event served as both reflection and renewal, celebrating lives lost to mental illness, uplifting families who continue to advocate for change, and recognizing the collective hope made possible through community support and collaboration.”
The University has also launched the Be the Light Fund, ensuring the UE Emily M. Young Mental Health Clinic can continue its vital work for years to come. With the support of our partners and philanthropic donors, UE will continue transforming lives through education and service, leading with compassion and a shared commitment to the mental health and well-being of all.
Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners will hold a special meeting
PUBLIC NOTICE OF SPECIAL MEETING
The Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners will hold a special meeting on Tuesday,
November 18, 2025, at 10:30 a.m. in Room 305 of the Civic Center Complex, at 1 NW Martin
Luther King Jr. Blvd., Evansville, Indiana 47708 for the purpose of discussing infrastructure
upgrades along St. Joseph Avenue.
DRAFT AGENDA
Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners
November 18, 2025 – 9:30 a.m.
Room 301, Civic Center Complex
1. Call to Order
2. Attendance
3. Pledge of Allegiance
4. Action Items
A. Engineer
1. 2. 3. B. Assessor
1. Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) Utility Relocation Letter – Oak
Hill Road Reconstruction
Time Extension Request #2: VC24-12-01 “Nisbet Road Small Structure
Replacement”
Sidewalk Waiver Request: Herrmann Acres at 4300, 4301, and 4307 Big
Cynthiana Road
Prescribed Contract for Annual Adjustments and Cyclical Reassessment: Nexus
Group, Inc.
C. Purchasing
1. Extension #2 to Agreement to Purchase Janitorial Supplies and Equipment: HB
Warehouse, LLC
2. Extension #2 to Waste Removal Service Agreement: BFI Waste Services of
Indiana d/b/a Republic Services of Evansville
D. Superintendent of County Buildings
1. Amendment to Old Courthouse Lease Agreement: Cultural Resource Analysts,
Inc.
E. Grant Agreement with Solid Waste Management District for Therapeutic Work Release
Program Residential Officer
F. Public Hearing and Final Reading of Vacation Ordinance CO.V-11-25-002: A Petition to
Vacate a Partial Public Utility Easement at 424 Beringer Drive
5. Department Head Reports
6. New Business
7. Old Business
8. Consent Items
A. Approval of November 4, 2025, Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes
B. Employment Changes
C. Auditor
1. Claims Voucher Reports
i. November 3, 2025 – November 7, 2025
ii. November 10, 2025 – November 14, 2025
D. Area Plan Commission
Request for Leave of Absence
E. Engineer
1. 1. Report and Claims
Drainage Board Immediately FollowingF. Surveyor
1. Request to Accept Surplus and Donation of Equipment from Evansville Water
and Sewer Utility
G. Treasurer
1. October 2025 Monthly Report
H. Board Appointments
1. Animal Control and Education Commission
i. Kendall Paul
ii. Linda Freeman
2. Commission on Homelessness in Vanderburgh County
i. Gregory Peete
3. Electrical Examiners Board
i. Cody Matsel
ii. Donald Beavin
iii. James Stidham
4. Explore Evansville Board of Commissioners
i. Joe Herrmann
ii. Mackenzie Black
Vanderburgh County Board of Health
i. Ashley Hammer
5. 9. Public Comment
10. Adjournment
11. Rezonings
A. First Reading of Rezoning Ordinance VC-10-2025
Petitioners: Daniel McGhee, Jr. and Cynthia Sims-McGhee
Address: 4900 Daylight Drive
Request: Change from C-4 to R-2
B. First Reading of Rezoning Ordinance VC-11-2025
Petitioners: Gene and Jeanne Pfeiffer Family Trust
Address: Part of S Eickhoff Road, Part of 49 S Rosener Road, and Part of 323 Rosener
Road
Request: Change from C-2 and C-4 with UDC to R-3 with UDC and C-2 with UDC to C-4
with UDC
12. Members of the Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners
i. Justin Elpers, President – District 2
a. Term: January 1, 2023 – December 31, 2026
ii. Amy Canterbury, Vice President – District 3
a. Term: January 1, 2025 – December 31, 2028
iii. Mike Goebel, Member – District 1
a. Term: January 1, 2025 – December 31, 2028
Drainage Board Immediately Following
USI completes sweep of Lions for 10th home win of the season
EVANSVILLE, Ind.- University of Southern Indiana Volleyball completes the sweep of Lindenwood University with another four-set win Friday night for the 10th win of the 2025 regular season inside Liberty Arena.
The Screaming Eagles maintain their spot in third place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings, moving to 12-4 in conference play and 16-12 overall.
Set 1: USI 25, LU 20
Sophomore Audrey Small kicked off the match for the Screaming Eagles with a six-point serving run, gaining a comfortable lead for USI. OVC Freshman of the Week, Aysa Thomas, dished out 10 assists, two kills, and an exciting solo block. Junior Leah Coleman led the Eagles with four kills, followed by freshman Carley Wright, who landed three kills on no errors.
Set 2: USI 25, LU 16
The Screaming Eagles continued to control the advantage after starting set two with a quick lead that they maintained for the entire frame. Wright led the court in the set with six kills on no errors, hitting a .750 percentage. Thomas added eight assists and three more digs, leading her offense to an error-less set and a .577 team hitting percentage.
Set 3: LU 25, USI 18
Lindenwood bounced back from falling in the first two sets and took a quick lead in the third, which the Eagles struggled to come back from. Junior Ashby Willis doubled her kill count, adding five more to the board to lead the court.
Set 4: USI 25, LU 19
The fourth set had the most push and pull from both sides to start off, but the Eagles took the lead by the ninth point and maintained it. Willis had her best set of the night, adding eight kills with no errors to hit a .800 percentage. She also picked up six digs to keep the defensive front up.
For the game, Thomas finished with 39 assists, nine digs, four kills, and three blocks. Willis completed a double-double with 18 kills and 10 digs. Small picked up 14 digs and a season-high nine assists. Coleman followed Willis on the offensive attack with 14 kills.
Aces put up strong fight against Bulldogs
Drake wins in four sets
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – In a hard-fought contest from start to finish, Drake finished with a 3-1 win over the University of Evansville volleyball team inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse on Friday evening.
Hinsley Everett led the way with 17 kills and 7 digs for the Purple Aces. Ryan Scheu added nine kills while Brooke Herdes totaled 8 kills and 9 digs. Ainoah Cruz led all players with 21 digs while Maddie Hawkins finished with 12. Kora Ruff notched 26 assists with Lexi Owen tallying 15. Macy Daufeldt paced the Bulldogs with 13 kills with Kacia Brown picking up 12.
Set 1 – UE 28, Drake 26
After the Bulldogs scored the first three points of the match, a solo block by Chloe Cline got UE on the board as the Aces came back to tie it at 3-3. Drake regained control going back up 8-4 before Evansville rallied once again. A Brooke Herdes ace was followed by a Hinsley Everett kill that made it a 9-8 deficit. Two points later, Makenzie Miller’s ace knotted the score at 10-10 while two errors by DU would give the Aces their first lead at 12-10.
Drake tied the score at 14-14, but another response by the Aces saw them take their largest lead at 19-16 on a Miller kill. The Bulldogs rallied to tie the score at 21-21 and had a chance to take the set as they held a 24-23 lead. The Aces bounced back to take a 25-24 lead on a Miller/Herdes block before Everett’s kill clinched the set.
Set 2 – Drake 25, UE 21
In a similar fashion as the first set the Bulldogs had the early momentum. They started with a 4-2 lead before extending the advantage to 10-5. Chloe Cline registered a kill that made it a 2-point game at 11-9 before the Bulldogs regained the 5-point edge at 17-12. With DU still up by five at 22-17 the Aces made a final push. Kills from Herdes and Everett brought UE back within two at 23-21, however, the Bulldogs scored the final two points to tie the match at 1-1.
Set 3 – Drake 25, UE 15
Another quick start saw Drake record the opening four tallies before extending the lead o 12-4. Four Bulldog errors were followed by an Everett kill that cut the deficit to 12-9. From there, it was all Drake as they pulled away to win by a score of 25-15 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Set 4 – Drake 25, UE 21
Hinsley Everett picked up two early kills leading to a 3-3 tie while Maddie Hawkins added an ace to give UE a 4-3 edge. The Bulldogs countered to go up by five at 13-8. Ryan Scheu came in and picked up kills that cut the deficit to two (16-14) before another made it a 1-point contest at 19-18. Everett recorded an ace that tied the score at 21-21. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs had the final rally, scoring the final four points to clinch the match.
On Saturday, the Aces honor seniors Kora Ruff and Maddie Hawkins when they face Southern Illinois in the regular season finale. Match time has been moved up to 4 p.m.
THUNDERBOLTS HOLD OFF STORM, WIN FOURTH STRAIGHT GAME
♪ DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC? ♪
GAVEL GAMUT
By Jim Redwine
www.jamesmredwine.com
(Week of 17 November 2025)
♪ DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC? ♪
My first experience with Indiana University football was in 1963 when the United States Air Force sent me to IU to learn the Hungarian language. IU lost six out of nine games that year. As is the case with most Indiana Alumni, I have clung to a hope IU would somehow, sometime, win a game in the fourth quarter rather than lose. Peg and I have attended many games filled with enthusiasm but left crushed by reality.
The cruelty of an Indiana winter’s sleet, snow and rain coupled with IU football faux pas has been an almost unrelenting Hoosier heartbreak for sixty-two years. We did finally reach the Rose Bowl in January 1968, but O.J. Simpson ran over us as easily as he later did the California justice system. Almost every one of those long journeys into darkness called an IU football season has been as fruitless as Linus believing Lucy would let him actually kick the ball. After about the first thirty-one years of ennui Peg and I resigned ourselves to the gods’ destiny for Indiana football and attended games just for the tailgate parties.
Of course, Bloomington, Indiana and the IU campus are beautifully accented by pristine limestone, beautiful fall leaves foliage and great college hangouts. We long ago quit watching for a football star in the east and returned to campus to relive those halcyon days of books and beer. So, Gentle Reader, imagine our amazement in 2024 when IU, that’s right IU, made the first college playoff. We were so mesmerized by the real-life fairytale we even celebrated the last two losses after the first ten wins.
Then along came November 08, 2025 and our game against Penn State, at Penn State, a place at which IU had never won. Peg and I were too attuned to IU’s history of hard play and last-minute losses to believe the so-called experts who predicted a two touchdown, easy IU victory. Our pre-game prayer was any victory by any score. And, while IU’s first nine victories this season somewhat lulled us into believing the hype, we never relaxed; we were right!
As had happened to us fans many times with Hoosier football, we marched right along into the end of the third quarter looking like the fabled Four Horsemen or Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside or even like Jim Thorpe had arisen to lead us. However, as had almost always happened before, the fourth quarter brought the enemy to life and was poised to sound the death knell for us. Peg and I were sanguine; we expected it. Once again, the pigskin devils had stricken IU to have us snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
But with seconds to go and trailing by four points, our Cream and Crimson heroes donned their capes and scored by one toe. It was truly a miracle! Shame on us for ever doubting. Now all I can say is watch out Ohio State and “Holy ‘smokes’, where’s the Tylenol?”
For more Gavel Gamut articles go to www.jamesmredwine.com
Or “Follow” us on Substack @gavelgamut
USI Women’s Basketball signs Shirley for 2026-27
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball announced the signing of Maddy Shirley to its incoming class of 2026-27.
“We are super excited to welcome Maddy to our family here at USI!” USI Women’s Basketball Head Coach Rick Stein stated. “She will be an awesome fit with our style of play and who we are as a program on and off the court. Maddy is a competitor and a winner, and she is a player who makes everyone around her better. She is tough, hard-nosed, and understands how to play the game on both ends of the court.”
Maddy Shirley (Evansville, Indiana) is a 6’0″ forward out of Evansville Central High School. Last season, Shirley averaged a double-double of over 25 points and nearly 12 rebounds per game as a junior. The forward shot for 54 percent from the floor, 44 percent from three, and 84 percent at the free-throw line. She also averaged just over three blocks per contest.
Shirley set numerous records in 2024-25, including a school and city single-season scoring record (715), a school single-game points record (46), and Central’s all-time scoring record (1,525). Additionally, Shirley set the school’s all-time rebounding record (756) and blocked shots record (208) after setting Central’s single-season record for rebounds (335) and blocks (91).
During her high school career, Shirley has been named back-to-back All-SIAC Player of the Year and All-Metro Player of the Year in 2023-24 and 2024-25. Plus, the local product was an Indiana Future All-Star in 2024 and an Indiana Junior All-Star in 2025.
Shirley was a member of Central’s 2022-23 Sectional Championship squad as well as last season’s team that went on to win the conference championship, sectional championship, and regional championship in 2024-25.
At the club level, Shirley was a top 10 3ssb scorer in 2024 and named to the 3ssb All-Tournament Second Team.
Shirley is one of two student-athletes to sign with the Screaming Eagles in the early 2026-27 signing period.