Local News

The Newburgh Volunteer Fire Department is awarded two federal grants totaling $74,000. The grants are through the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program and the Fire Prevention & Safety Grant Program. Some of the funds will be used to update the department's personal protective equipment used by firefighters.The department is currently operating with fire turn-out gear that is no longer compliant with safety standards.

A former Gibson County doctor is being investigated by the Indiana Attorney General‘s office. Officials charge Dr. Christopher May with having had inappropriate sexual relationships with one of his patients and also writing her fake prescriptions. A hearing date has not been set.

Most of the Union County girls’ softball team involved in a bus crash yesterday are released from hospitals.  Out of 28 people on the bus, 25 went to hospitals, and just one teammate remains hospitalized.  She is expected to be released Monday.  Athletic director for the Union County School District says the most severe injury was a broken leg.  Kentucky State Police have not determined what caused the bus to run off the shoulder of the road before crashing.

Indiana State Police say they‘re going after aggressive drivers. Starting tomorrow, troopers will be participating in a campaign to reduce the number of crashes involving semis and passenger cars. Troopers will be looking for vehicles who drive dangerously around semi trucks and other commercial motor vehicles. Some of the violations troopers will be looking for include: unsafe lane changes, failure to yield the right of way, following too closely and aggressive driving.

A business -- new to Newburgh this year -- wins an Historic Preservation Award. Historic Newburgh Incorporated Executive Director Carol Schaefer notes during a Preservation Month program that #3 Market Street had stood empty for a couple of years. The building has held a number of businesses for more than 100 years. It was the meeting place of Roman Catholics in Newburgh. Cliff and Andrea Whitehead developed House of White bridal boutique in the ornate building.

With the end of the school year about three weeks away, teachers and the Department of Education are laying groundwork to keep students reading over the summer. State school superintendent Glenda Ritz returned to Crooked Creek Elementary School, where she was media specialist before being elected superintendent, to sell students on the importance of reading. The Department of Education will try to encourage students by making 3,000 titles available for free on its website.

The State of Indiana says efforts are ongoing to preserve the environment during a major construction project in southwest Indiana. The Indiana Department of Transportation is restoring more than 4,000 acres of wetlands, streams and forests in Greene and Monroe counties during the Interstate 69 project.
 

Owensboro, Paducah, Bloomington and other small airports that were to be closed in June because of the sequester get a new lease on life. Tranportanton Secretary Ray LaHood says there's enough money to keep the 149 towers open until the end of the fiscal year, Sept. 30th. LaHood says the legislation allows the FAA to transfer funds to end employee furloughs and keep the 149 low activity contract towers originally slated for closure in June open for now.

Evansville Bar Association President-elect Scott Wylie is awarded the Tanya Neiman Pro Bono Professional of the Year Award by the National Association of Pro Bono Professionals. The award was presented at the American Bar Association Equal Justice Conference.  Wylie is the Executive Director of the Vanderburgh Community Foundation, helps administer the Volunteer Lawyer Program of Southwestern Indiana and currently serves on the Indiana Pro Bono Commission.

First for Indiana Gov. Mike Pence. He signed his first two-year budget and then vetoed legislation, bringing a halt to four new licensing and certification requirements. Pence says bills requiring licensing of dietitians, diabetes educators and anesthesiologist assistants create unnecessary barriers to the free market, and would get in the way of economic growth. The governor says the state should be looking for ways to require fewer licenses, not more. The governor notes he supported a bill establishing a panel to review all Indiana‘s licenses and consider which could be eliminated.