Evansville, Ind. – Zach Smith threw seven shutout innings and the Evansville Otters shutout the Washington Wild Things 1-0 Sunday afternoon at Bosse Field.
The Otters earned their second shutout of the week and ninth of the season – second best in the Frontier League. Evansville’s win extends a streak of 42-straight series over two years without being swept at Bosse Field.
Smith (6-6) pitched his ninth quality start of the season on his 25th birthday. He struck out four batters while stranding four runners in scoring position. Smith allowed just two hits.
Evansville scored the lone run of the game in the first inning. Noah Myers walked and stole second base.
Dakota Phillips then delivered with two outs, batting a ball into right to score Myers for a 1-0 lead that held up over the final eight innings.
Washington put the first two runners on in the ninth inning on a hit-by-pitch and walk. Both advanced into scoring position on a bunt.
The Wild Things knocked a base hit into right field but Jeffrey Baez threw out the run at the plate. Jake Polancic then struck out the last batter to win the game.
Kevin Davis pitched a scoreless eighth inning. Evansville held Washington to just four total hits.
Polancic earns his 12th save of the season – third most in the Frontier League.
The Otters sit in the third playoff spot in the Frontier League West with three weeks left in the regular season.
Evansville now hits the road for a six game road trip starting against the Florence Y’Alls. First pitch is slated for 5:32 PM CT from Thomas More Stadium in Florence, Kentucky.
All home and road Otters games this season are televised on FloSports with audio-only coverage available for free on the Evansville Otters YouTube page.
The Evansville Otters are the 2006 and 2016 Frontier League champions.
FOOTNOTE: Â EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT information was provided by the EPD and posted by the City-County-County Observer without opinion, bias, or editing.
Schedule:Full-Time, 8-hour day shift, Monday-Friday. Various health insurance options & wellness plans. Retirement benefits including employer match plans.
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“The past is never dead. It’s not even past.â€
William Faulkner wrote that in “Requiem for a Nun,†one of his lesser-known novels. Like all his work, the book experimented with narrative techniques. Parts of it are told in prose infused with the author’s poetic sensibility. Other sections are presented as if they were a play.
All that experimentation, though, focuses on Faulkner’s overriding obsession, his quest to figure out how we come to terms with what we have done and what has been done to us.
How we make peace with the past.
Faulkner’s emergence nearly a century ago as a great writer represented a sharp break with the main branch of Southern fiction.
Prior to his arrival, most books about the South glorified what had gone before, overlooking or even revising the bigotry, the violence and the poverty that plagued the region. In the hands of Southern romantics, the Civil War was not a horrible American tragedy brought on by a wretched crime against humanity—human slavery—in which brothers, cousins and fellow citizens slaughtered each other by the tens of thousands, battling in mud and blood for four long years while disease after disease ravaged the troops, but a gallant struggle waged by selfless and courtly gentlemen.
The South’s apologists even denied the true cause of the war, saying that it was a fight for self-determination, one waged so the Confederacy could be “left alone.â€
In fact, President Abraham Lincoln had pledged to the Southern states that they would be left alone, but that didn’t stop them from firing the first shot in the murderous conflict that nearly tore the world’s great experiment in self-government apart.
Faulkner lifted the rock on Southern evasions and hypocrisies, revealing profound truths about race, regret and epic wrongs in the process.
His tales were not those of courtly noblemen defending a sacred lost cause but of desperate people doing often cruel and venal things for reasons that were far from selfless. He was one of the first white Southern writers to treat Black characters as fully functioning human beings. This allowed him to probe the tragic realities of segregation and the high price the South paid for living with and upholding the lie that some people deserve rights of liberty and personal self-determination … and some don’t.
Faulkner’s truth-telling was often met with hostility and contempt in his native land. Scorned as “Count No’Count†for his often patrician dress and manner, his neighbors here in Oxford showed little regard for the genius in their midst.
Even as Faulkner developed a worldwide reputation as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century, most of his townsmen considered him an embarrassment, a bizarre little man with an odd penchant for unsavory things.
They preferred the lie to the truth.
Now, as I walk through the rooms of Faulkner’s home and amble through the streets of the town where he lived, I think about how history echoes through eternity, how now distant struggles that have lain dormant may suddenly spring to life again.
We once again are amidst a great forgetting. States across the nation now are in the middle of a campaign to rewrite and obscure history once more, erasing grave injustices from the American consciousness and memory by banning books and suppressing any acknowledgment of basic truths.
In one particularly fatuous and vicious instance, the Republican governor of Florida who is also a presidential candidate, Ron DeSantis, has tried to repackage slavery—human servitude imposed by force of arms—as a kind of vocational education experience, a benign benefit rather than a cruel curse.
Now, as in Faulkner’s time, many Americans prefer the lie to the truth.
William Faulkner died a little more than 60 years ago, leaving behind the richest body of work ever produced by any American who ever picked up a pen.
He now is a writer more often admired than read, perhaps because his books make demands of both concentration and conscience on his readers.
This is a pity, because what he had to say is as timely now as it was 100 years ago.
We Americans still must come to terms with what we have done as a nation and a people.
Because the past is never dead.
It’s not even past.
FOOTNOTE: 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.
Planned Parenthood vows to continue to fight as Indiana abortion ban takes effect
By Marilyn Odendahl, The Indiana Citizen
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Katie McHugh, OB/GYN, (left) and Rebecca Gibron, CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai’i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky, Inc., spoke to reporters Tuesday about Indiana’s new abortion law.  Photo by Marilyn Odendahl
Speaking at the Planned Parenthood facility in Indianapolis Tuesday morning, the organization’s leader and physicians emphasized while abortion services have now stopped in the state of Indiana, the clinic is open and continuing to offer a range of medical care, including assisting patients in traveling to a state where abortion remains legal.
“No matter what extremists are doing to attack your right and your choices about your own bodies, Planned Parenthood will be here for you now more than ever,†Rebecca Gibron, CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai’i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky, Inc., said during an early morning press conference. “Planned Parenthood health care centers in Indiana are here with open doors, and we’ll be here tomorrow and every single day after.â€
Indiana’s near-total abortion ban was given the green light following a June 30 ruling by the Indiana Supreme Court which vacated a preliminary injunction that had been blocking the new law. Planned Parenthood and others filed a petition for a rehearing Monday, asking the justices to impose another preliminary injunction while the trial court reviews the constitutionality of the law’s limited exception for the health of the mother.
The Indiana General Assembly passed the new abortion statute, Senate Enrolled Act 1, during a special session last summer, weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade which had given women the right to abortion care. S.E.A. 1 allows an abortion if the woman’s health is in danger if the fetus has a lethal anomaly or if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.
Although Gov. Eric Holcomb signed the law in August 2022, the abortion restrictions were put on hold in September. The Monroe County Circuit Court granted a preliminary injunction after finding the new prohibitions violated the Indiana Constitution’s guarantee of liberty.
As abortion was banned in other states, including Kentucky, Planned Parenthood has recorded a 25% increase in out-of-state patients coming to Indiana for care over the past year.
Katie McHugh, an OB/GYN at Planned Parenthood, said the clinic will now tell Hoosier women they have to leave the state to obtain an abortion and will help arrange travel and care in those other states.
“Abortion is here to stay and so is abortion care,†McHugh said. “We are here to help the people in Indiana access the health care that they need, and we invite the community to join us. We challenge all Hoosiers to stand up against this oppression and to reclaim the rights to control our bodies and our futures.â€
Indiana Right to Life called on the Indiana Supreme Court to clarify the status of the new abortion law, saying for thousands of unborn babies, it is a life and death issue.
“While we are pleased that some Indiana abortion businesses, at least, indicate that they are ceasing operations today, the status of the new Indiana law remains unclear,†Mike Fichter, president and CEO of Indiana Right to Life, said in a video statement released Tuesday. “We are hopeful that the Indiana Supreme Court quickly affirms that the new law is in effect, ending 95% of abortions in our state.â€
 ‘Race to the top
McHugh said Planned Parenthood has already seen people become desperate since S.E.A. 1 was signed into law even though it was not being enforced. Patients have attempted to end their pregnancies “through dangerous means†and assault survivors have struggled to meet the deadline imposed by the new abortion law to terminate a pregnancy.
With the ban now cleared to take effect, McHugh said the impact will spread beyond pregnant women and be felt by the entire state. The community’s health will suffer as the people who are pregnant cannot work and are busy taking care of their families that expanded before they were ready to provide for more children.
In addition, both McHugh and Gibron expect the state’s maternal mortality rates to increase as people “are forced to carry pregnancies†they do not want or that put their health and life at risk. They said the state’s maternal mortality rate has increased 58% in the last three years.
“We are third in the nation right now for maternal mortality,†McHugh said. “I fear that we will be in a race to the top with the other states that are banning abortion access.â€
While Planned Parenthood is adjusting to the new restrictions, Gibron said the organization would continue its effort to overturn the state’s abortion law.
“We will fight every lawsuit and every ban as far as we can take it in the state of Indiana,†Gibron said. “Patients deserve access to vital reproductive health care in their home state. It is unconscionable to think that patients have to leave their community, their home, their state to access basic health care. So yes, we will continue to fight as far as we can fight every battle that needs to be fought on this front in the state of Indiana.â€
Crossing state lines
Planned Parenthood’s pledge to help patients travel to another state for an abortion comes as Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita and 18 other attorneys general are trying to stop a proposed federal rule that seeks to strengthen reproductive health care privacy. Under the potential new rule, government officials would be restricted from reviewing health information for an investigation against any individual who seeks, obtains, provides or facilitates lawful reproductive health care.
Rokita and the other attorneys general wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services , asserting the proposed new rule would upset a “careful, decades-old balance†between patient privacy and the state’s need to protect public health, safety and welfare.
“The proposed rule would interfere with States’ ability to obtain evidence that could reveal violation of their laws,†the letter stated. “This intrudes on core state authority.â€
Asked if Planned Parenthood was concerned about any repercussions from the Indiana Attorney General for assisting patients with out-of-state care, Gibron replied, “Absolutely not.â€
She then added the clinic would protect patient privacy.
“What I want to make crystal clear is under no circumstances will we turn over any kind of patient data,†Gibron said. “Your records, your medical information is private and protected and confidential. And it will remain that way.â€
The Indiana Attorney General’s office countered Gibron’s comment by saying the state’s top lawyer is not seeking more access but just wants the current rule to stay in place.
“Once again, Planned Parenthood is seeking to take advantage of another 15 minutes of fame,†Kelly Stevenson, a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office, said in an emailed statement. “We are not asking for any patient records. We are saying the existing law should stay in place, keeping intact the law enforcement authority that states have had for decades.â€
The attorney general’s office highlighted its case against Caitlin Bernard, an OB/GYN who provides abortions, as proof it respects patient privacy. Rokita’s team filed a complaint against Bernard for relaying to the media she provided an abortion on a 10-year-old Ohio rape victim.
“In fact,†Stevenson continued, “our office has always defended patient privacy. As you know, the Medical Licensing Board found Caitlin Bernard liable for violating state and federal patient privacy law on three separate counts, plus issued a formal letter of reprimand. We will argue just as vehemently for any other patient whose privacy is violated by their doctor.â€
Gibron called Bernard “a hero†for the care she provided to the 10-year-old and said Rokita’s effort to politicize the incident for his own gain “was despicable.â€
“We will continue to support Dr. Bernard as we always have,†Gibron said. “And if the AG decides he wants to do something else and come after any other physicians that work with Planned Parenthood, he will be met with the full force and weight of our legal team and our support behind our providers.
This article was published by TheStatehouseFile.com through a partnership with The Indiana Citizen (indianacitizen.org), a nonpartisan, nonprofit platform dedicated to increasing the number of informed, engaged Hoosier citizens.
FOOTNOYE: Marilyn Odendahl has spent her journalism career writing for newspapers and magazines in Indiana and Kentucky. She has focused her reporting on business, the law, and poverty issues.
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