Local News: Tuesday June 6th 2023

Posey County Radio News and Sports

News:

Mt. Vernon Softball has hired a new head coach. At their regular meeting yesterday, the School Board of Trustees hired Hank Lopez, III, to fill the vacancy at the top of the MVHS Softball program.  Coach Lopez was hired to replace Coach Kasey Spindler who left for her first administration job. Lopez has 16 years as a head baseball coach under his belt with 11 seasons at Riverton Parke and 5 more at North Vermillion.  Prior to becoming the head coach at Riverton Parke, he was the assistant baseball coach for 3 seasons. Lopez came to Mt. Vernon as an assistant football coach and he will remain on staff for the MVHS football program.

North Posey Softball (28-0) is back in the Class 2A State Finals for a second-straight year, after winning both of their Semi-State games on Saturday. The will play Andrean (29-7) on Friday at 4:30 PM in the Class 2A State Championship game at Purdue University. You will be able to hear the game on 98.9 FM WPIW, 106.7 FM WMVI, and poseycountyradio.com. Chris Morlan will have the radio broadcast.

Yesterday, the University of Southern Indiana held a public forum for public comment on proposed tuition and mandatory fees for the next two academic years. The public hearing took place in the Griffin Center. The University proposes that tuition for a full-time, in-state resident, undergraduate student be set at $8,751 in 2023-24, an increase of approximately $276. In 2024-25, the University proposes tuition be set at $9,036, an increase of approximately $285. Officials say the increased student fees will be used for operational expenses of the University.

Wesselman Woods is now close to 50% bigger thanks to a partnership between the nature preserve, the city, and the University of Evansville. Wesselman Woods is the largest urban old-growth forest in the United States. Yesterday, it expanded by more than 40%, meaning some of the surrounding area could look very different after a few short decades. The area is a nature preserve, which people are working not only to maintain, but also to grow. Local leaders met at Wesselman Woods for an announcement yesterday, which they say has been decades in the making. The University of Evansville sold 42 acres of land on Division Street, and the city of Evansville donated the 32 acres where the par-3 golf course used to stand as well as 16 acres inside the loop. It comes out to 90 new acres of land for the nature preserve. The expansion takes Wesselman Woods from 220 acres to 310. They say they plan to reforest the new space using seeds from the existing woods, a process which they say could last several decades. As part of the announcement, Mayor Lloyd Winnecke proclaimed June 5^th, 2023 to be Rebirth of Wesselman Woods Day.

Sports

• The St. Louis Cardinals (25-36) got walked off in Texas by the Rangers, 4-3. The Redbirds have now lost 4-straight games.  

• The Chicago Cubs (26-33) got blanked in San Diego by the Padres, 5-0.  

• The Cincinnati Reds (27-33) snapped a 4-game losing streak by shutting out the Milwaukee Brewers at home, 2-0.