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(02/01/13 4:57am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In his home in the dusty flatland of West Texas, the aging legend was surrounded by memories of his victories and his defeats. The artifacts included the red sweaters and ties he wore across three decades of goading, swearing and winning at Assembly Hall. Also included were the chairs where he had presided courtside during his trio of national championships, plotting domination over Michigan, North Carolina and Syracuse. Even the championship rings he had earned with those victories were part of this collection of memorabilia.One of the most revered and most infamous coaches in history, Bob Knight decided last fall to clean house, putting pieces of his legacy up for sale. Hundreds of items were to be auctioned online through a sports memorabilia firm.Knight told the Associated Press he was selling the rings and the other artifacts to raise money for his grandchildren’s college fund. But here in Indiana, it was hard not to wonder. After a lifetime as a coach and an analyst for ESPN, it seemed unlikely that he was strapped for cash. Was it a coincidence that the auction would begin as the Hoosiers entered the season ranked No. 1 for the first time since he left?The coach’s messy departure from IU — the firing, the lawsuits, the riot — was almost as legendary as his winning record. Since then, the university had repeatedly tried to reach out to him, inviting him to be honored at public rituals of commemoration. But the answer was always no.Now, when the Hoosiers were back on top, Knight was selling off emblems of collective memory, even the ring symbolizing the unmatched perfection of 1976.Was he just being a good granddad? Or was he telling IU that all those years together meant nothing?***The auction was only the latest chapter in the long saga of the coach’s tempestuous relationship with IU basketball. Knight is famous for doing nothing halfway, including holding a grudge.Even amid the controversies of his tenure at IU, the coach was known for his epic support of the university. He raised nearly $5 million for the University’s libraries and endowed chairs in the history department and the law school. His players testify to his ability to inspire them to become better players, better students and better men.“He challenged you every day to take you places you never thought you’d go in your life,” said Quinn Buckner, who played on the 1976 team. “That’s what I appreciate about him.”Knight was committed to academics. If you played at IU, you were going to get a degree at IU.Dean Garrett, another former player, remembers how he and Keith Smart hurried back to campus after they won the championship in 1987, foregoing the opportunity to prepare for a professional career.“Keith and I didn’t have the option to go to Colorado Springs and train for the NBA draft,” Garrett said. “We had class! We won the championship, got back to Bloomington. Class was off the next day but the day after that we were back in class.”After a tough loss, Knight was torn apart. In the book “A Season on the Brink,” journalist John Feinstein chronicled Knight’s highs and lows over the course of one season.“Knight was incapable of accepting failure,” Feinstein wrote. “Failure on any level all but destroyed him, especially failure in coaching because it was coaching that gave him his identity, made him special, set him apart."University Chancellor Emeritus Kenneth Gros Louis, who knew Knight during his time at IU, would find Knight alone after a loss at home, hitting golf balls into the large net at Gladstein Fieldhouse.Even in a good season, Knight was volatile.“People who knew him well as I did could tell over the course of a basketball season, to use a metaphor, when the springs were getting tight and when they were about to burst,” Gros Louis said.In March 2000, a video of Knight placing his hands on the neck of a player prompted then IU President Myles Brand to put Knight under a “zero-tolerance” policy. Any more violations and Knight would be locked out.On Sept. 7, 2000, an unsuspecting freshman named Kent Harvey saw the coach in Assembly Hall.“Hi, Knight,” he said.The coach grabbed Harvey.“And as he’s moving, I put my hand on the inside of his elbow and I looked at him,” Knight said at the time, “and I said, ‘Son, my name isn’t Knight for you. It’s Coach Knight or it’s Mr. Knight. I don’t call people by their last name and neither should you.’”For Brand, that was enough. Knight had broken the zero-tolerance policy.Riots hit Bloomington and campus. Property was destroyed. Brand was hung in effigy. Harvey was threatened with death. ***During the summer of 2012, representatives from Steiner Sports — an auction house that specializes in sports memorabilia — sorted through boxes in his home and garage to find artifacts from his past life. By mid-October they had collected, photographed and appraised all the items he wanted to send away. Knight was having a veritable garage sale of all the things he’d collected over the years. There were trophies, plaques, shoes, guns, photographs, an Olympic gold medal, newspaper clippings, signed baseballs, pocketknives, ball-caps, clocks and even an edition of Guitar Hero — still in the box. “I’ve got stuff I didn’t even know I had,” Knight told the AP. “I don’t put anything up in the house. If you came into the house you would think I was a mailman. And I don’t even wear rings.”Bidding for Knight’s NCAA Championship rings started slow. The 1987 ring was the most active item with five bids and $20,000 in the last days of November.Knight’s 1976 ring from the Hoosier’s perfect season was going for $15,100 with five bids and the 1981 ring held steady at $7,500 with only two bids. ***In 2009, the University began trying to reconcile with the estranged coach who had brought Assembly Hall three NCAA championships.A new University president, Michael McRobbie, a new athletics director, Fred Glass, and a promising new head coach, Tom Crean, meant that few, if any, faces from his time at IU were still in Bloomington.So Glass led a push to induct Knight into the IU Athletics Hall of Fame. Glass wrote a personal letter to Knight, asking him to come to Bloomington for the induction ceremony.“I didn’t want to be part of an induction process that didn’t involve Coach Knight,” Glass said, “because I felt he belonged in the Hall of Fame.”Knight refused. There were too many people he didn’t want to see, according to a letter read in his absence. He said his appearance would take attention away from the other inductees. Last season, plans were made to honor Knight’s 1987 team on the 25th anniversary of their NCAA Championship. Crean has said he admires Knight and said that he hoped the coach would be in attendance.“I would hope Bob Knight knows he has a 365-day invitation to come back,” Crean said last year. “For him to come back, that’s totally up to him. I wouldn’t hesitate in welcoming him back — there’s no question about that. And if we knew he was coming back, I’d be running out there opening the doors.”Knight didn’t show. At the beginning of this season, only a few weeks into the auction of Knight’s rings, the Hoosiers went to Brooklyn for the Progressive Legends Classic. The game against Georgia was broadcast on ESPN and called by Knight. What happened next was chronicled in a series of nine photos by Herald-Times photographer Chris Howell. After the game, Crean walked toward the broadcast table but play-by-play analyst Dan Shulman stepped in front of him. Shulman and Crean shook hands, but Crean moved past Shulman and extended a hand to Knight. Shulman kept a hand on Crean’s shoulder and Knight, hands full with jacket and coffee, did not make eye contact.Crean continued to speak to Knight, Shulman continued to speak to Crean and Knight continued to look away. He allowed Crean to shake his hand but walked forward, eyes ahead.Finally, Knight stopped for a moment and Crean was able to say a few words to his predecessor, who responded with a scowl. In the series of photos, Knight didn’t make eye contact with Crean until the end of the encounter. Crean later said Knight wished him good luck.In the final frame, Shulman was still standing between the two coaches. Crean had turned away as well, a smile on his face. Knight was looking away, expressionless. ***The auction took off in its last 24 hours. At 5:00 p.m. Dec. 5, the last day of the bidding, the 1976 ring was going for $34,950. The 1981 ring was at $5,100, the 1987 ring at $25,000. The slowest starter, the 1976 ring now sprinted higher and higher: in two minutes, the price jumped $20,000 with three bids. At 10:07, the ring reached $119,950 and continued to climb. At 10:14, the final bid was cast for the 1976 ring for a whopping $174,950.Fifteen minutes before the close of auction, the 1981 ring broke the $10,000 mark, ultimately ending at $12,600. The 1987 ring went for $45,000.Fans paid thousands of dollars, but Gros Louis said the material objects aren’t as important as the memories they represent.“People who don’t have championship rings or trophies, et cetera, assume that the things are very meaningful to the person who has them,” Gros Louis said. “And they are meaningful, but after the career’s passed, they are just objects, they’re just material objects.”***Quinn Buckner is one of three basketball players to have won a championship on every level — high school, college, the NBA and the Olympics. He said he sees why Knight would sell his rings. Buckner doesn’t even remember where his are.“The items and rings from the championships, I know I’ve got them but I couldn’t tell you where they are,” Buckner said. “The reality is you always have the memories. It was more the relationships you get from having that experience. The ring may be symbolic of that, but the memories are what you have.” For Dean Garrett, the rings symbolize a lot more than just the championships. Each player received two rings for the championship, he said, one from the NCAA and one from IU. He periodically wears the IU ring and gave the NCAA ring to his father. When his father died, Garrett didn’t want to take the ring from him. He put it in his father’s casket. “To me, the ring means pretty much everything. For most of us — we didn’t win another championship, it’s the only ring I’ve ever had. I could not see myself parting with that,” he said. “I wouldn’t sell it for charity. If I needed money I wouldn’t sell it. It means something different to different people.”***When the auctions started, Knight said he doesn’t wear rings. But when he was coach of the Hoosiers, he was often photographed with a large ring emblazoned with an IU on his left hand. It’s not certain from the photographs, but it looks like the ring from the undefeated 1976 season.Courtside, while he coached his players and screamed at referees in Assembly Hall, he wore an IU ring. Carrying a bullwhip on the sidelines in a practice at the NCAA tournament in 1992, he wore an IU ring. When he tossed a chair across the free-throw line during a 1985 loss to Purdue, he wore an IU ring.Even in the hours after he was fired from IU, when he calmed his rioting supporters and told them to go home, he wore an IU ring.Through the good and the bad, he wore a ring. Then he stopped.
(12/10/12 6:01am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Bloomington’s most popular brewery will start serving Indiana’s most popular beer of all time.Champagne Velvet, a now-defunct pre-Prohibition classic from Terre Haute, will be revived by Upland Brewing Co.“We think the best way to celebrate the success that local breweries like us are having is by paying tribute to Indiana’s most successful local beer in history,” Upland President Doug Dayhoff said in a press release.To celebrate their 15th anniversary, Upland bought the rights to the Champagne Velvet brand from a Terre Haute businessman and Champagne Velvet collector. Along with the rights, he gave Upland notes on Terre Haute Brewing Co. letterhead from 1901, one of the original recipes of Champagne Velvet.“We’re making it as authentic as we can.,” said Charles Stanley, Upland’s strategic projects manager. “It was a German-inspired lager that did use flaked corn, and we will be doing that, as well. It’s really keeping with that drink local idea and paying homage to the most popular beer in Indiana history.”But times have changed, Stanley said. New brewing techniques and equipment means the century-old recipe needs a 21st century update. To do that, they’ll brew a few versions of the original recipe and bring in a taste test panel to pick the final brew. “The variables will be yeast, amount of flaked corn used and the hop varieties,” Stanley said.The German-inspired lager was first sold by the Terre Haute Brewing Co. in 1906. In a time when shipping beer long distances was uncommon, Champagne Velvet quickly became an Indiana staple before prohibition laws took effect in the state in 1908.The brewery was reopened in 1934 and within a year was producing 400,000 barrels annually. The Terre Haute Brewing Co. had the world’s largest bottling line at the time with twist-off caps and cap-sealed cans.In 1957, the brewing company was sold to a regional conglomerate and lost local ownership. Soon after, the Champagne Velvet brand stopped production.Champagne Velvet was last brewed Nov. 1, 1958.The beer was a casualty of increased corporate ownership of beers. Mid-20th century consumers valued cheaply mass-produced American adjunct lagers like Budweiser and Coors. Though Champagne Velvet had similar style and taste, the pride in local breweries faded as national brands became more popular.Today, craft breweries like Upland have put more focus on the “drink local” concept. Founded in 1997, Upland is now the second-largest brewery in the state.Upland just completed a $3 million expansion that included a new brewery located on Bloomington’s west side. They now brew more than 18,000 barrels of beer at a time.The brewery is inviting the public to help decide the direction for art on the new Champagne Velvet bottles and for the recipe selection. To be considered for the panel, go to idsn.ws/YRz9Zj and fill out Upland’s survey about bottle art.Champagne Velvet will be available in Bloomington, Indianapolis and Terre Haute starting in April 2013, Stanley said.
(11/07/12 12:19am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Indiana's 11 electoral votes have gone to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. CNN, Fox News and NPR have called the state for Romney with 6 percent of precincts reporting.Indiana's polls closed at 7 p.m. Polls in Bloomington closed at 6 p.m.In 2008, Democratic President Barack Obama won the state. He was the first Democrat to carry the state since 1964.As of 7:19 p.m., Romney led Obama 19 electoral votes to 3.--Charles Scudder
(09/12/12 10:28pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>If the old adage that the presidential candidate voters would rather share a beer with gets the most votes is true, there will be a clear winner in November.Beyond Republican nominee Mitt Romney’s religious obligations keeping him from imbibing, President Barack Obama has solidified his role as the craft beer president.Only two presidents have brewed beer while in office. George Washington made a “small beer” at Mount Vernon, and Obama bought homebrew supplies last year, making his administration the first to brew in the White House.Thomas Jefferson made wine at Monticello, but that doesn’t count.The president served the homebrew — made with honey from Michelle Obama’s garden — at Super Bowl parties and to heads of state. When U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Dakota Meyer won the Medal of Honor, he simply asked to have a beer with his commander in chief. Obama and Meyer shared a homebrew in the White House Rose Garden.Obama’s homebrew started to make headlines when he told reporters he kept cold brew on his campaign bus.Homebrewers across the country began campaigning for the White House to release the recipe. Media outlets from Fox News and MSNBC to NPR and The Atlantic wrote about the homebrew hubbub.Two weeks ago, White House Assistant Chef Sam Kass announced the recipes through a blog post on whitehouse.gov. A honey porter, honey brown ale and honey blonde are all brewed in the White House kitchen and fermented in the White House basement.“After the few first drafts we landed on some great recipes that came from a local brew shop,” Kass said in the post. “To be honest, we were surprised that the beer turned out so well since none of us had brewed beer before.”Obama’s relationship with frosty libations goes beyond just homebrew.In the first year of his presidency, Obama was embroiled in a national controversy on race relations involving the arrest of Harvard professor Louis Gates. The POTUS invited Gates, the arresting officer and Vice President Joe Biden to the Rose Garden for a pint. Obama had Bud Light, Officer James Crowley had a Blue Moon, Gates had Sam Adams Light and Biden drank Buckler, a non-alcoholic malt beverage.Later in his term, Obama visited Ireland to track down his family roots. He stopped in a pub and was photographed with Michelle and a pint of Guinness.When Obama lost a bet with British Prime Minister David Cameron during the 2010 World Cup, he traded Goose Island’s 312 Wheat Ale, from his hometown of Chicago, for Wychwood Brewery’s Hobgoblin, from Cameron’s home district of Witney.“I advised him that in America we drink our beer cold,” Obama said at the time. “So, he has to put this in the refrigerator before he drinks it, but I think he will find it outstanding.”On campaign stops across the country, Obama stops in neighborhood bars and local pubs for a pint, shakes hands and tries to earn votes. In 2008, he made a similar stop in Bloomington when he visited Nick’s English Hut.Obama won Indiana in 2008, but the state is predicted to vote Republican this November, which means it is unlikely we’ll see a visit from either presidential candidate. If Obama, Romney, Biden or Ryan decide to visit Bloomington, you can bet I’ll be in line to offer the candidates a pint of Bloomington’s finest.
(08/19/12 11:47pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Seek truth and report it. Minimize harm. Act independently. Be accountable.The tenets of journalism are consistent at all levels. From student newspapers to professional media organizations, we all follow the same guidelines. We are all equally members of the press.Student journalists in particular share a special bond. Oftentimes, we are the only independent source of information for the communities we serve and the universities we attend.At IU, we enjoy editorial freedom — students make the decisions about everything in the Indiana Daily Student.I was impressed when staffers at the University of Georgia’s Red and Black newspaper — which has similar freedom — walked out of production last Wednesday to protest prior review and possible censorship.Here are the facts. Much like IU Student Media, the Red and Black operates under the auspice of a larger company, the Red and Black Publishing Company, which is editorially independent and financially self-supporting.Last week, a Red and Black Publishing Company board member sent a draft of a memo to professional staff, whose job until now has been to counsel and advise but not to dictate content.They would be on the lookout for “content that catches people or organizations doing bad things.”“I guess that’s ‘journalism,’” the drafted memo read. “If in question, have more GOOD than BAD.”In response, the student journalists of the Red and Black stood up during production last week and walked out of the newsroom.They set up social media and a blog, “Red and Dead.” They continued to cover news that affects students the way they should: uncensored and uninterrupted.This is not only commendable but impressively encouraging.I am thankful that the board addressed the concerns of the Red and Dead editors during the weekend. The board member who suggested the changes has submitted his resignation, and top editors have re-applied to the Red and Black.This is how it should be. Student editors, and only student editors, should dictate content on a student publication.I understand the concerns of the IU community because I am a member of it, as the editors of the Red and Black are to UGA.The IDS is a publication that prides itself as the single source for comprehensive, thought-provoking and compelling news for IU. I’m sure the staffers of the Red and Black feel the same way about their campus.I do not for a moment mean to assume that as students we work without error. Our newsrooms also serve as learning labs. It is one of the most vital functions of a student newspaper. We do make mistakes, but it is through those mistakes that we learn to be stronger journalists.What is truly inspirational is that the former staff members of the Red and Black didn’t stop working.They are continuing to report, write, shoot and edit. They are producing content online that matters to the UGA community.Sports, news, commentary. It’s all for students and by students. It’s a formula we’ve followed at the IDS since 1867 and will continue to in the decades to come.As journalists, we like to end on a quote. Here’s one from a 1787 letter from Thomas Jefferson to James Madison.“Educate and inform the whole mass of the people,” Jefferson said. “They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of liberty.”To read more about the situation at the Red and Black from student journalists at UGA, go to their Red and Dead blog.To read the letter from a board member suggesting prior review of student-edited and student-produced content, click here.
(04/26/12 4:06am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Loogootee is a dot of a town in southern Indiana. But on a Tuesday night in late February, it was a ghost town.The parking lot of Loogootee High School, however, was packed to the brim. Cars parked on the grass far from the entrance.The main attraction was a decades-old rivalry between the Loogootee High School Lions and the Jasper High School Wildcats from down U.S. Highway 231.Jasper boys’ basketball plays in the Indiana High School Athletics Association’s Class 3A conference, the second-largest, while Loogootee plays Class A, the smallest.A game like this, between a tiny school with only a couple hundred students, and a large-class school with more than a thousand students, is rare these days to say the least. Ever since the IHSAA transferred from a single tournament — in which every school had a shot at the state title game — to a class system, games between big schools and small schools are increasingly rare.Only in the past five years have the Wildcats and Lions reignited the annual contest.“It’s a rare occurrence, but it’s the chance that you have to knock off a Goliath that made it interesting,” Loogootee Coach Mike Wagoner said. “Here at Loogootee, we are used to beating the bigger schools.”Inside the high school is Jack Butcher Arena, home of the Loogootee High School Lions boys’ basketball team. It has a capacity of 4,571 roaring Lions fans for a town with a population of 2,751 — and that’s without the fold-out bleachers brought out for big games.Just outside the arena, a glass case with net-draped championship trophies dating back to the 1940s, memorabilia from the 1975 state championship run, newspaper clippings and team portraits sit pristine under the careful watch of generations of fans.They are vestiges of the past, heralds of memory.As the band played the Loogootee High School fight song to the tune of “Washington and Lee Swing,” an announcer came on the crackling loudspeaker to read the starting lineup.“For the Loogootee Lions, starting at No. 10, Luke Jones,” the announcer said.Nothing else could be heard as a 100 Lion fans leapt to their feet in the yellow arena, roaring and cheering on their boys in the white home-team jerseys they’ve worn fordecades.THE MILAN MISREPRESENTATIONIn Indiana, people often associate class basketball with the Milan Miracle: the 1954 Milan High School basketball team that fought its way to a state championship.It’s the story director David Anspaugh capitalized upon in his 1986 film “Hoosiers,” starring Gene Hackman and Dennis Hopper.Milan’s story is a great one: the scrawny little farm boys going against the big city ballplayers. It’s David versus Goliath to the core. It feeds our urge to cheer for the little guy.The problem is, of course, Milan never appeared in another state final game since. No Indiana team of the same size saw the same success of the 1954 Milan Indians since the first state tournament in 1911.“Larger schools hold inherent unfair advantages because they have a larger pool of students to pull from,” IHSAA Commissioner Bobby Cox said in a recent interview.In the early 1990s, Cox said IHSAA started a commission to investigate dividing teams into classes. That proposal was forwarded to the IHSAA, and the association’s executive committee voted 12-5 to split into classes.A referendum vote from all member schools can be called if petitioned by members to overturn an association decision, according to IHSAA bylaws. In September 1996, schools petitioned for the only such vote in IHSAA history on the subject of class athletics.Members upheld the decision to split into four classes with a 220-157 vote. The 1997-98 season was the first played with four state champions.The debate was started up again when in January, State Sen. Mike Delph, R-Carmel, introduced legislation that would ban athletics organizations like the IHSAA if they operated under class basketball. Before the legislation even made it out of committee, Cox called Delph and struck a deal.The two would go on a tour of schools in April and May to have open town hall meetings to discuss the issue and conduct a straw poll of those attending.“This issue comes up every five years,” Cox said. “It’s always a basketball issue, no one asks about a single-class softball tournament or a single-class baseball tournament. The tournament changed. The decision to go to class was made by educators.”IN THE LIONS’ DENAt the game in Loogootee, the Wildcat boys were no bigger, no faster and no more talented than the Lions. For most of the game, the two teams were within spitting distance of one another.With a little less than two minutes left, the Lions earned their largest lead of the game, 57-45.As time ran out, the 66-59 score on the board revealed Loogootee as the victor. After the game, Wagoner congratulated his team on a game well- played.“This was a good game, a good win. Tomorrow will be a light practice. Shoots, free throws, and we’ll see who starts on Thursday, OK?” he said. “Alright, hands in. One, two, three, team.”The locker room was tiny, with room for 20 players. The team’s three seniors, fresh off the win, stood around talking about class basketball and the prospect of returning to a single tournament.“I’d like that,” senior Austin Bradley said. “It’d show who’s the best team in Indiana again. Rather than not play, like, just small schools, we’d see who really is the best.”“Really? I don’t think so. I mean, you’ve got that one Milan team and our two teams,” senior Bryant Ackerman said. “They should’ve gone back a while ago, but now I don’t think so.”They went back and forth, without a consensus. Why should they expect to succeed when they have to go against big teams? Possibly a two-class system would be best.All the conversation is speculation. These players have never competed in aone-tournament conference.Wagoner said that’s really the shame of converting to class ball. He played for Butcher in the mid-1970s and was a reserve guard when the Lions made their 1975 state title run.“The current players will never know the excitement that the one class system had,” Wagoner said. “Although the current class system is just as exciting around here anyway, that’s all they know.”For the seniors, it came down to the realization that if the single tournament was still in place, they would have very little chance of ever raising a state championship banner at Jack Butcher Arena.“I like class,” senior Aaron Howell said. “It lets us know we can win state. I don’t think we could beat a North Central or a Ben Davis. Maybe back in the day, but not now. No matter what the old folks here say.”“THE WORST DECISION IN THE HISTORY OF THE STATE OF INDIANA”On Monday evening, Delph and Cox met at the Seymour High School auditorium for one of 11 town hall meetings across the state to survey public opinion on the multi-class system.There were about 40 people, mostly older men, in the large auditorium. In attendance were a few coaches, many fans, but no players.On their way in, community members were handed a pamphlet about the IHSAA and a small ballot. The options: “I am in favor of a single class basketball tournament,” and “I prefer the current multiple class tournament format.”“Part of our goal here is to give our area principals information on what the public is thinking,” Cox said in a brief introduction.After explaining the format of the evening, Cox gave the podium over to Delph, who explained the bill he had introduced and his opposition to the multi-class system.“I think basketball is unlike any other sport in Indiana,” Delph said. “In part, the Indiana high school basketball tradition, in my humble opinion, has made legends.”Leigh Evans, of Greenwood, Ind., was the first to take the microphone. He's the creator of HickoryHusker.com, a website dedicated to Indiana high school sports.He suggested a system with sectionals divided into classes and a combined semi-state and state finals tournament.“I think IHSAA has a unique opportunity to, number one, reunite the state and, number two, create something that is unique to Indiana,” Owens said.Others took the microphone and spoke their piece. Some had played ball as early as 1936. Others were current coaches from across Southern Indiana. Most were in favor of a single tournament, some more passionate than others.“I don’t wanna be rude, but I think the decision to go to the multi-class tournament was the worst decision in the history of the State of Indiana,” said Vaughn Winslow, a self-identified Kokomo High School Wildcats fan. “These small schools, I see where they come from, but I don’t see where the fairness is today.”Once everyone had a chance to speak, Cox thanked the crowd once again and encouraged them to file their ballots in the back of the auditorium. Cox said the response was similar to the ones he and Delph had received elsewhere.“There’s passion on both sides of the issue,” Cox said. “The reality is the board of directors made a decision based on the member schools. Fifteen years later, most of the public has accepted it, may not like it, but they’ve accepted it.”STATEIn late March, the Loogootee faithful made the trek to Indianapolis for the third time in the school’s history.The Lions swept past in-class sectional rivals Barr-Reeve High School and Shoals High School, moved on from Evansville Day School and Orleans High School on their way to the semi-state game, pushed by Edinburgh High School and finally made it to the state championship game against the Rockville High School Rox on March 24 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.All around downtown Indianapolis, fans clad in Loogootee black and gold filed into Bankers Life Fieldhouse. They filled the arena to the rafters in their designated fan section. The Lions fans took up about a quarter of the seats in the fieldhouse.“If there’s empty seats, can we move down there?” asked one fan in the nosebleed seats.“I’m sorry,” said the usher in a green vest. “They won’t let you.”“That makes no sense, the entire town of Loogootee fits in here,” he said.Just before tipoff, the lights dimmed. The Black Eyed Peas’ “Let’s Get it Started” blasted from speakers with thumping bass, a far cry from the pep band sounds in Loogootee.The Lions stayed ahead for the first half. Fans were on their feet, shouting, screaming profanities at Wagoner, at the referees. Cheerleaders led the chants that Lions fans had been shouting for years.“L-I-O-N-S, what does that spell? Lions!” the crowd shouted in unison.With two minutes left in the game, Indiana state troopers and IHSAA officials lined up behind the basket with the championship trophy and medals, awaiting the end of the game.With less than a minute to play, Rockville made a few lucky shots, tying the game at 50 points. Loogootee and Rockville fans were on their feet, hands were clenched, fingers crossed.The Lions got up 52-50, but a Rockville player took the ball back and put it up for two points, tying the game again with 25 seconds.18 seconds: Loogootee junior Will Nonte responded, making it 54-52.4.3 seconds: Ackerman was fouled and taken to the line again, putting his team up by five.The Lions were roaring. They knew it was finished. They knew the boys in gold had finally brought home the state title, and they could not be more proud.LIVING LEGENDSThat afternoon the Lions headed home, all 98 and nine-tenths miles from the massive Bankers Life Fieldhouse to the miniscule Jack Butcher Arena.Fans, players and coaches came down U.S. Highway 50, windows down, standing in the back of pick-up trucks, shouting and cheering in an impromptu victory parade once they reached Loogootee.In the shadow of the Loogootee water tower, painted like a basketball, Ackerman held the trophy for the crowd to see, the net through which he dropped the winning shot draped around his neck.They were living legends, their spot forever reserved in the trophy case of memory.“It was just great,” Wagoner said. “It was something that these kids will remember forever. That it is over was kind of hard to understand.”Today, the evidence of the championship is still coming slowly. Wagoner said a huge map of Indiana is being painted now on the wall of Jack Butcher Arena to commemorate the champions.“I don’t know exactly how big, but the biggest map we’ve got, it’ll be bigger than that,”he said.Championship rings are also on order and will arrive in the next few weeks for the players and coaches.“That’ll probably be when it becomes real,” Wagoner said. “When we get our rings in and people start wearing their rings around, that’ll be when it sinks in.”Loogootee High School is the defending state champions for Class A boys’ basketball. It doesn’t come with the dramatic storyline of The Milan Miracle, but it does come with rings and banners and parades and pride.“We are state champs, and that is all that matters,” Wagoner said.It’s a discussion that surely will continue in high school bleachers, in gymnasiums and locker rooms after practice and games, and in the statehouse and administrationoffices.But, for now, it seems that multiple-class basketball isn’t going anywhere.“I’ve been to one class and I remember the excitement, and now I know what it’s like with classes,” Wagoner said. “It wouldn’t make any sense to go back now.”
(04/19/12 4:05am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Little 500 presents an interesting dilemma for the craft beer drinker.On one hand, those who drink craft beer know that price sometimes dictates how much one can drink and enjoy. On the other hand, it is Little 500, which presents a different set of priorities.Generally speaking, race fans aren’t sipping Goose Island’s Matilda or North Coast’s Old Rasputin, but instead, they are littering Bloomington with cans of American light lagers.So this presents a good opportunity to take a look at cheap beer. These are the beers that wouldn’t stand up internationally (in Germany, they can’t legally be marketed as “beer”) and are often made cheaply and with rice instead of grains. Here’s my list of the best of the worst in American brews.ICEHOUSE — If you really like Icehouse, please email me, and tell me why. I see no reason to ever buy this beer under any circumstances. I’m all for making a purchase based on a budget but Icehouse? Really? That’s just plain deplorable.NATURAL LIGHT — Natty Light isn’t much better, but it is at least worth — only a little bit — the low, low price. It’s a beer for games but not much else. My suggestion: Start on a better beer, and work your way to a point where drinking Natty is not as horrid.KEYSTONE LIGHT — Keystone is the best of the really, really cheap beers. Again, it’s a good game beer but not a good drinking beer, and again, my advice is to start heavy and end light with something like Keystone.PABST BLUE RIBBON — To the hipsters: I’m sorry, y’all. I know you really think you are chic and cool for drinking your PBR, but you’re not. It’s still awful. Budweiser is better than your drink of choice, which should tell you something. Drinking bad beer does not make you more hip.BUDWEISER — Bud, even with its awful ad campaigns and cheesy American-flag cans, is in the top tier of the cheap brews. It’s cheap, easy to find and a good, solid party beer that’s worth the price for day drinking and games during Little 500 week.MILLER LIGHT — Believe it or not, my favorite cheap beer is Miller Light. I can’t put my finger on it exactly, but I just prefer it to the other American-style light lagers out there. I could go on about really quality craft lagers, but as far as mass-produced cheap beers go, I always go for a case of Miller Light.Now, to be clear, I am very much an advocate against the nonchalant attitude many 20-somethings have toward binge drinking. If you or someone you know has a problem with alcohol, please call IU CAPS at (812) 855-5711 or go to http://healthcenter.indiana.edu/ for more information. If there is an emergency, please call 911 immediately.Stay safe this weekend, and cheers!
(04/17/12 2:26am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>With Little 500 upon us, it’s as good a time as any to take a look at the state of America’s most popular beverage. The craft beer industry is booming nationwide, especially in the Hoosier state. Rep. Todd Young, R–9th District, is cosponsoring H.R. 1236, the Small Brewer Reinvestment and Expanding Workforce Act, which would help local brewers. The Indiana Daily Student talked to Young about the bill and beer in southern Indiana.IDS Tell me a little bit about this bill. What is it going to do for brewers in Indiana?TODD YOUNG The bill would reduce the excise tax rate that small brewers have to pay on their product. Lowering the tax will help more small breweries get off the ground and increase the likelihood of success. Once they produce at a certain threshold, that reduced rate goes away.IDS Why beer? What makes the craft beer industry worth supporting?YOUNG Microbreweries are an emerging industry, especially in Indiana. There are several in Indianapolis that have sprung up in recent years, Upland in Bloomington, Big Woods in Nashville and a new one called Twisted Crew in Seymour, among others. There’s a lot of red tape to cut through to get one of these new ventures off the ground, and I want to do what I can to help them become productive members of their local economies.IDS Why did you, specifically, put your name on this bill? How will it help folks in District 9?YOUNG Anything we can do, no matter how big or small, that helps create jobs and revenue streams is worthwhile. This is a simple way that I can help revive the economy. It’s a small step, but string together enough small steps and we’ll reach our goal.IDS What is the advantage of supporting small brewers rather than big conglomerates?YOUNG I don’t know that there is a specific advantage when you look at it from an economic perspective, but a level playing field always helps expand the economy.IDS Here in Bloomington, Upland Brewing Company is planning a multimillion-dollar expansion that will help create jobs and put more into the local economy. Do those ripple effects have anything to do with your decision to cosponsor?YOUNG I’m excited to see Upland expand, but my decision was driven more by the stories from other, newer breweries as they told me about the challenges they faced in opening for business. The red tape these folks have to cut through is mind-numbing.IDS The bill has some pretty hefty support. What’s the likelihood of it passing? Is there a time frame for when it will go through?YOUNG I’m not sure what the time frame is for when it might be voted on as we’re just beginning the budget and appropriations process, which will dominate the legislative calendar for the next few months. It’s something I’ll continue to push for, though.IDS On a lighter note, what’s your favorite Indiana beer and why?YOUNG I’m a big fan of Big Woods Breweries in Nashville. The food at their restaurant is excellent, their beers pair well with the food and the owner is a hardworking guy trying to keep a business going.
(04/09/12 1:40am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>On the ground floor of the Phi Gamma Delta house, there is a room with walls covered in photos of the Little 500 race from years past.They are from the first 17 years of the race, when the Phi Gamms never finished out of the top 10.They are from the 1985 race, when the team had its lowest showing of 28th place, and from the past 17 years since the team’s last win.Along another wall, there are framed photos of Fiji brothers holding up the Borg-Warner Trophy after winning the race in 1956, 1965, 1967, 1975, 1987 and 1995. There’s one empty frame on the wall with a piece of paper taped up that reads, “RESERVED FOR 2012.”On the way to the team’s bike room, riders, such as junior Matt Andress, see the faces of Fijis from the past.“We see it constantly and daily, and it serves as a constant reminder of what we can do,” Andress said, staring at the photos on the wall. “There’s just so much tradition.”All that tradition means little when it comes to race day, especially with the Fiji team this year consisting of two juniors, one sophomore and three freshmen.“It is hard, too, ’cause we have won so many times and coming up not having much experience before,” Andress said.Who will be riding on race day is still to be determined, but with three rookies, the team had to hit the ground running this spring to be prepared for race day.“Starting out on the track was definitely nerve-racking, but staying here spring break was a huge advantage,” freshman Sam Reed said.For many of the riders, Fiji Cycling is a family affair. Reed’s father rode in the 1982 Little 500. Junior Will Boeglin has had a brother in the race since 2007.“One word that sums it up is pride,” Reed said. “I don’t know how to explain it. You want to make the fraternity proud. You want to make the alumni proud.”Fiji Cycling is rated first overall, according to Indiana Daily Student historical rankings. It doesn’t have the most wins of any team, nor has it won since the 1995 race, but it has consistently placed well since the race began in 1951.The team has won a race in each decade except for the last. Its final opportunity was last year’s race, but a crash during qualifications put it back in the pack. When the checkered flag fell, the team had climbed 17 spots to place 15th overall.This year, Fiji Cycling qualified fifth, the same as it did in 2010, when it placed third in the race. This year, the team is looking to fill that seventh frame in the house on Third Street.Boeglin said the team has added new coaches, intensified training and stayed in town for spring break to train at Bill Armstrong Stadium.“Going in this year, it’s just about being consistent,” Boeglin said. “As great as it is to get fifth in quals, it doesn’t end there.”Through the spring series events, the riders all agreed that success in the final race was more important than winning any single event. Even in quals, they knew it was only one step toward a final goal.The Fijis won the race in 1956, 1987 and 1995 with the same or lower pole position.The riders are always talking about the long haul. Quals is important, but isn’t everything. Spring series events are fun, but not the team’s goal. They’re thinking race day and beyond.Although independent teams, such as the Cutters, have seen success in the past five to 10 years, the riders of Phi Gamma Delta are thinking of more than 60 years of consistency on the track. They are thinking of their part in the long-term story of the Little 500.“It means a lot of tradition or history,” Andress said. “Not even in respect to Fiji, you know? “Everyone involved with Little 500. It means a lot to ride with Phi Gamma Delta on the front, but it’s more than that.”
(04/03/12 2:27am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Students in West Clark Community Schools are back to school Monday after tornadoes destroyed the K-12 Henryville, Ind., school complex.While the complex is still damaged, grades K-6 will go to class at the Graceland Baptist Academy in New Albany, Ind., while grades 7-12 will be at the Mid-America Science Park in Scottsburg, Ind.“It was a pretty smooth start. Most of the students arrived on time and seemed excited,” said John Reed, assistant superintendent for West Clark Community Schools. “Some of them haven’t been able to see their friends since the tornado.”The main goal for the educators now is to get students back to a routine before moving forward. Reed said teachers will be using self-pacing programs to get students back to speed. Their biggest goal is to prepare their high-school seniors for graduation and their other students to move to the next grade level.“We want to get the kids back in and settled, make sure they are emotionally ready,” Reed said. “Our big challenge will be to evaluate where they’re at since they’ve missed so much school.”School has been out in Henryville for four weeks, and Reed said the schools will be applying to the state to waive the 180 days of instruction required by the Indiana Department of Education. Otherwise, students will be forced to stay in class during the summer to make up for lost time.Indiana DOE spokesman Alex Damron said the application often includes newspaper clips, police reports or other evidence as the reason for the waiver. “We haven’t received one yet, but when we do, our goal is to work with the local school officials to figure out what is best for the students in Henryville,” Damron said. “The 180 day rule is very important to us. It is vital that our children get that much time in a classroom. However, there are situations where a waiver is appropriate.”Reed said that without the strong community support and donations from across the state, the district would not have been ready for classes to begin again.“It really has been an amazing thing to witness as so many surrounding communities and businesses came to help out,” Reed said. “Without their help, we would not be back in school today.”
(03/30/12 3:56am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>This can’t be a good month for Dick Lugar.The long-time Republican senator from Indiana is stuck in a much closer primary against State Treasurer Richard Mourdock than he would like to be. He only has a six-point lead in some polls. And what’s more, allegations brought forth by Mourdock’s campaign that Lugar hasn’t lived in the state since 1977 led the Marion County Election Board to rule that he was ineligible to vote in his home district. It is all part of what has become a slew of negative campaigning from both sides in TV ads, press releases, emails and YouTube videos.“It’s about what you’d expect,” said Leslie Lenkowsky, a clinical professor in the IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs. “It starts to appear late in the season.”The Mourdock campaign has ads critiquing Lugar’s residency and his bipartisan efforts with Democratic President Barack Obama. “Now Sen. Lugar stays in high-end hotels like the JW Mariott when he comes to Indiana because he doesn’t live here anymore,” one Mourdock ad said. “No wonder Sen. Lugar’s voting record is so out of touch with Hoosier Republicans.”The Lugar campaign has fired back with attacks on Mourdock’s lack of attendance in committee and board meetings, and it has accused him of starting the mudslinging.“Mud? Really? Richard Mourdock and his D.C. cronies are attacking Dick Lugar again?” one Lugar ad said. “Typical, desperate, 11-time candidate Richard Mourdock is throwing mud to hide his own record.”Lenkowsky said this is typical of late-season negative campaigning. Once one campaign — usually the underdog — fires a shot, it quickly becomes a brawl.“Then, obviously, the other voters are wondering when are the grown-ups going to show up,” Lenkowsky said. “It rarely works. Because at this point in the campaign, it is going to take a lot to get ahead.”The two campaigns point blame at each other for who started the bickering. Lugar campaign officials said Mourdock started his campaign as a negative one, while the Mourdock campaign officials said they were surprised by Lugar’s personal attacks.“The Lugar campaign, for the first time since the early ’80s, is running negative ads,” said Jim Holden, Mourdock’s campaign manager. “He seems to have just gone negative because his re-election is in jeopardy.”Since first being elected to the U.S. Senate in 1976, Lugar has rarely run negative ads. When running in the GOP primary for president in 1996, Lugar even ran a TV ad lauding that he was the only candidate to not run negative ads.This time around, Mourdock’s early showing forced the senator’s campaign to go this route, Lugar campaign spokesman Andy Fisher said.“It is indicative of the low road that the Mourdock campaign has gone,” Fisher said. “I don’t know we’ve ever had an opponent running a campaign so negative and attacked a year ahead of time.”One of Mourdock’s early ads features the treasurer seated with the camera close, like he’s talking straight to voters, telling why Lugar is out of touch with Hoosiers.“Anyone who has been in Washington, D.C., for 35 years ultimately suffers the effect from Potomac poisoning,” Mourdock said in the ad. “His willingness to push the Obama agenda has caused him to be labeled President Obama’s favorite Republican senator.”Holden said he does not consider that negative but simply informative.“It simply points out the different candidates in issues,” Holden said. “You can call that negative. I call it contrast.”The main goal for both campaigns, Lenkowsky said, is now getting organized before the May 8 primary election. The primary election, he said, is all about making sure voters are enthused enough to leave their houses and go to the polls. “On one hand, the Lugar campaign have done this enough,” Lenkowsky said. “On the other hand, the Mourdock people have the enthusiasm of Tea Party folks.”
(03/29/12 1:40am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I remember when I was younger, I begged my parents to let me stay up late to be the first one to pick up the new Harry Potter book. I remember staying out past midnight in high school to tell my friends I was the first to see the new Batman movie. I know legions of fans lined up Thursday night to see “The Hunger Games.”On Sunday night, I participated in a slightly different midnight release.Bell’s Brewery, Inc., of Kalamazoo, Mich., organized midnight tapping releases of its sought-after summer seasonal, Oberon Ale. Many bars and brewpubs in Kalamazoo had big crowds, with a sprinkling across Indiana coordinating events as well.Yogi’s Grill & Bar was the place to be for Bell’s fans in Bloomington, and you bet your ass I was there.At about 11:30 p.m. Sunday in Indiana, bars aren’t usually the most packed of places. Slowly, however, craft beer-heads from around town started to trickle in.Bartenders said they remember bigger crowds the year before and for the Bell’s Hopslam release a few months back, but by midnight, the bar was full of fans thirsty for Oberon.The special OBERON 2012 glasses were lined up and frosty, and the keg had been tapped briefly to remove excess carbon dioxide. Free Bell’s merchandise, including Oberon shirts, stickers and temporary tattoos, were passed around the bar.At 11:57, they began filling glasses. You could cut the tension in the air with a knife. At 11:59, they started distributing the glasses.Usually, I wouldn’t be excited about an American-style wheat ale. I’m a die-hard when it comes to the wheat style; I only drink thick, unfiltered German-style hefeweizens.In fact, Oberon is the only American-style wheat I can find palatable. (Sorry, Blue Moon. I’m real happy for you, but Oberon is the best American-style wheat ale of all time.)It does exactly what Bell’s does well: create perfect impressions of time-honored styles. There’s nothing fancy about Bell’s — no self-assumption. Just a small line of brews with superior quality.It is crisp and refreshing, with subtle citrus notes without having to dump fruit into the glass. (Yeah, I’m calling you out, everyone who puts orange slices in beer.)Oberon comes in at 5.8 percent ABV, and it doesn’t need much more. It has a light golden color of an American wheat, but it makes up with cool flavor what others in the style lack.It is the perfect boat beer. And, for the first time, Oberon will be served in 12-packs and mini-kegs, just right for a summer afternoon.BELL’S BREWERY, INC., Oberon Ale — A crisp, refreshing, American-style wheat ale with light citrus notes. Four out of five pints.
(03/26/12 3:23am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It just wasn’t the same. The Bloomington Police Department cars were there, the crowds were there, the cream and crimson shirts were there, but it just wasn’t the same.Four months ago, the last time IU Coach Tom Crean and his Hoosiers took on the Kentucky Wildcats, this street had to be closed to vehicular traffic because an army of Hoosiers had stormed the intersection of Kirkwood Avenue and Dunn Street. Four months ago, cars were destroyed, music blared out of apartment windows and fans jumped and sang and danced and shouted.But this time, after IU fell to Kentucky 90-102 Friday night, fans held their heads low and migrated from Nick’s English Hut and Kilroy’s on Kirkwood to go back home after a long, hard evening.Fans had been on Kirkwood to get ready for the 9:45 p.m. game in the early afternoon. Hoosier faithful lined up outside bars, IDs in hand, through the rain and hailstorm a few hours before tip-off. “It’s a sign, man. Kentucky’s gonna lose,” IU junior David Long said while waiting in line at Nick’s. “Hell’s freezing over.”Some from inside came out to see the hail and call worried parents.“I’ve never seen a sky like this,” said one fan. “I’m going to go inside and drink some more, then come out and watch.”Once inside, they watched a replay of junior forward Christian Watford making his buzzer-beater shot, giving the team from the Southeastern Conference its only loss of the regular season. They cheered for the Hoosiers as they clawed their way through the first half. They yelled and chanted all through the final plays as the boys in red ended their magical NCAA run.Then they all filed out of the bars, into the street. The Hoosier fans met with friends, gave hugs. “One helluva run, huh?” one Hoosier said.Then, as a light rain began to sprinkle onto the homebound crowds, Kirkwood slowly cleared.And it was quiet once again.
(03/22/12 1:41am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Mark LaPointe used to carry a gun to teach about the Civil War. Now he uses a guitar.He’s been a living history re-enactor since 1995, donning the blue wool of a Civil War infantryman. A musician by trade, he found performing the music of the mid-19th century a better hobby than participating in traditional re-enactments.“I thought of turning it into a musical thing instead of running around the woods with a rifle,” LaPointe said.On Tuesday, he performed at the Monroe County History Center as part of the Monroe County Civil War Roundtable.The Monroe County Civil War Roundtable meets at 7 p.m. the second Tuesday of the month, September through June, at the History Center.Steve Rolfe, current secretary and former president of the group, said the meetings usually involve lectures and talks from scholars, but LaPointe’s performance was so successful in 2011, the group decided to bring him back.“We usually have a bunch of gray-haired guys standing around, talking about whether Robert E. Lee was a traitor or what’s the cause of the war, was it states’ rights of whatever else,” Rolfe said. LaPointe set the stage at the History Center with period props to give the feel of an infantry camp in the 1860s. There was a framed portrait of Abraham Lincoln resting on a box that had “1000 .58 BAL CARTRIDGE” stenciled onto the side. A Union flag was hanging nearby, and a lantern with a lightbulb for a candle sat on the ground.The musician was dressed in a dark blue Union cap; a heavy, wool Army-issue jacket and blue slacks. He played a period-style parlor guitar and drank water from a tin cup at his feet.He played the songs of Irish immigrants who came to America during the late 19th century looking for work. Many were signed up as volunteers in the Union Army when they couldn’t find employment in the North. One of those songs was “The Irish Volunteer,” which was popular among immigrant infantrymen who fought in the American Civil War. Throughout the performance, LaPointe urged people to sing along with the songs such as “Tenting Tonight” and “Lincoln and Liberty” but to mostly no avail. “Music was home because it was something that they sat around on porches in the evenings and played and sang songs,” Rolfe said. Near the end of the performance, he urged the audience to join him in one final tune.“This is a sing-along number,” he said. “I promise you it doesn’t hurt. Unless you’re up here by yourself and nobody sings with you.”He began strumming along with a hymn in the G key. It was uplifting but at the same time melancholy and fatigued.“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the lord,” he sang.Other voices joined in, catching up on the tune.“He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored,” they all sang. “He hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword. His truth is marching on.”On the projector screen, pictures flashed of young men, dirtied and tired in camps across the South. “Glory, glory hallelujah,” they sang. “His truth is marching on.”Closing your eyes, you could imagine the tune drifting across a bloodied battlefield in Pennsylvania, in Tennessee, in Virginia, in Georgia as men lay down after a long day of killing to share stories and sing songs.“With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me, as he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,” they sang. “As God is marching on.”
(03/20/12 4:05am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Imagine if an EF4 tornado ripped through campus the way it did in southern Indiana in early March.The Jordan Hall Greenhouse would be a pile of twisted metal, destroyed plants and shards of glass. Dunn’s Woods would be reduced to a pile of toothpicks. The Light Totem at the IU Art Museum would be crumpled like aluminum foil.If such a killer storm were to hit Bloomington, campus, city and state officials want you to be prepared.“There could have been a much different situation if people were just anywhere when the tornado hit,” said Deborah Fletcher, director of IU Emergency Management and Continuity. That’s why Gov. Mitch Daniels proclaimed this week to be Severe Weather Preparedness Week for Indiana.“We do a lot of planning before so people know what to do in case something happens,” she said. “For instance, Ballantine Hall has a person on each floor to make sure people get off the floor and to shelter.”On Wednesday, the entire state of Indiana will be on alert from 10 to 10:30 a.m. and from 7 to 7:30 p.m. as part of a massive test of its emergency systems.The emergency alert system will send messages across the airwaves statewide. Fletcher said the alert will trigger community sirens to sound, including the six on the Bloomington campus.The sirens are tested the first Friday of every month and are electronically checked daily, but Monroe County Emergency Management Director James Comerford said this is the one time during a year when officials physically visit each siren to make sure it is working properly.“They will test that system, and that will also push communities to sound alert systems,” Fletcher said. “We have then decided to use that to test our internal systems.”The University will send updates through IU-Notify text messages and emails on all eight campuses. Hundreds of digital signs from Bloomington to Kokomo to Gary to New Albany will also be illuminated with safety messages.“This gives us a chance to test our system at full capacity,” she said. “We normally have a campus here, a campus there, but rarely all at once.”While the local system is tested on the first Friday of every month, citizens are rarely asked to do much more.“We have not used this as a reason for people to do something. This time, we are asking people to do something,” Fletcher said. “Get up, go to the tornado shelter. A lot of times, this means go to the lower level.”Unlike a real emergency situation, there will be no all-clear sign. Fletcher said they are simply asking people to get to a secure location, stay there for five minutes and then go about their normal daily activities.“We don’t want it to be an inconvenience or too invasive in the day,” she said.Monroe County will conduct similar drills with communities across the state. Schools and businesses are encouraged to participate, as well.“It’s a real good chance that if everyone gets the message and takes shelter in their home or apartment or wherever, people will think about where to go if something actually hits,” Comerford said. Fletcher said that, along with the drills this week, the key to being safe during a storm is to pay attention to surroundings and keep an eye on severe weather reports.“The number one step to being prepared is being aware of what’s going on,” Fletcher said. “This is a weird, weird year. I mean, it’s summer already, and it’s only March. People need to be aware of what’s going on.”
(03/09/12 4:56pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>For any causal beer drinker, it can be difficult to break into the craft beer scene. Between hop varieties, malt characteristics, yeast strains and the 23 styles of beer recognized by the Beer Judges Certification Program, there’s a lot to learn.Luckily, Yogi’s Grill and Bar on the corner of East Tenth Street and North Indiana Avenue has you covered. It offers a weekly “beer school” at 7 p.m. Tuesdays as a primer to the art of enjoying craft brews.Each week, Yogi’s brings in brewers and beer reps who know the beer well and can talk about it to the most in-depth beer geek and the craft beer newbie.“We try to keep beer school interesting by continually learning ourselves,” Yogi’s bar manager Jackson Heiss said. “The beautiful thing about having the brewers themselves come in is that there is literally no question they can’t answer about their beer.”Beer school started as a program for Yogi’s employees to learn more about the beer on tap. It has since expanded to an opportunity for the public to come in, enjoy some good brews and have a chance to talk with some great brewers.This past Tuesday, Yogi’s played host to Sun King Brewery from Indianapolis, which brought in cans and growlers of some of its newest, best brews.Sun King is coming off its sweep of the Great American Beer Festival with an unheard-of eight medals for its various brews.At beer school, Sun King sales manager Eric Fear and brewer James Hellmuth showed off their Sunlight Cream Ale, Wee Mac Scottish Ale, Osiris Pale Ale, Dominator Dopplebock and Isis Imperial IPA.Both the Osiris Pale Ale and Iris Imperial IPA showed off Sun King’s specialty: hops.Fear admitted that almost all the brewers were huge hopheads and loved playing with pale ales with strong, bitter hop character and fruity hop flavor.A solid example is the Grapefruit Jungle, an IPA that sold out within days at the brewery. Fear couldn’t even get a growler to bring to beer school in Bloomington.Yogi’s has a precious six-barrel order that is worth checking out while it’s still around. Sun King brewers mixed citra, emerald and cascade hops in what turns out to create astonishing grapefruit notes and a blend of fruit taste. Fear said there was no fruit added, only hop character.“If you order this and don’t like it, I’ll buy it from you,” Fear told the group at Yogi’s. “It’s that good.”Hops might be what the Sun King brewers love best, but they still make a damn fine dark. Hellmuth said malt character is his big thing, and he’s one of the few guys at Sun King who really digs brews such as the dopplebock more than a pale ale.“I’m not anti-hop. I just went through that phase, and I loved it,” he said. “Now I like nice, malty beers.”The dopplebock was divine. As the namesake suggests, it’s a double-strong lager that, as Fear described, is pretty much liquid bread. The style was originally created to get fasting monks through the season of Lent.“If you couldn’t have anything but this for a month, we’d probably be a little skinny and a lot drunker, but we’d be alive,” Fear said.It tastes like a heavy, dark German loaf of bread. Its strong malt character and undeniable bock texture efinitelymake me want to come back for more.I’ll also be returning to beer school. The opportunities to chat with the pros and learn a whole lot more about a whole lot of great beers is worth taking a Tuesday night off. Plus, Yogi’s tap selection is always worth a gander.“There is no other place in town that has even close to the number of options we’ve got,” Heiss said. “We also refuse to let it get stale. We are changing the beer menu almost every couple of days.”
(03/08/12 9:18pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>For any casual beer drinker, it can be difficult to break into the craft beer scene. Between hop varieties, malt characteristics, yeast strains and even just the 23 styles of beer recognized by the Beer Judges Certification Program, there’s a lot to learn.Luckily, Yogi’s Grill and Bar on the corner of East Tenth Street and North Indiana Avenue has you covered. They offer a weekly “beer school” at 7 p.m. Tuesdays as a primer to the art of enjoying craft brews.Each week, Yogi’s brings in brewers and beer reps who know the beer well and can talk about it to the most in-depth beer geek and the craft beer newbie.“We try to keep beer school interesting by continually learning ourselves,” Jackson Heiss, Yogi’s bar manager, said. “The beautiful thing about having the brewers themselves come in is that there is literally no question they can’t answer about their beer.”It started as a program for Yogi’s employees to learn more about the beer on tap. It has since expanded to an opportunity for the public to come in, enjoy some good brews and have a chance to talk with some great brewers.This past Tuesday, Yogi’s played host to Sun King Brewery from Indianapolis, who brought in cans and growlers of some of its newest, best brews.Sun King is just coming off its sweep of the Great American Beer Festival, with an unheard-of eight medals for its various brews.At beer school, Sun King sales manager Eric Fear and brewer James Hellmuth showed off their Sunlight Cream Ale, Wee Mac Scottish Ale, Osiris Pale Ale, Dominator Dopplebock and Isis Imperial IPA.Both the Osiris Pale Ale and Iris Imperial IPA showed off Sun King’s specialty: hops. Fear admitted that almost all the brewers were huge hopheads and loved playing with pale ales with strong, bitter hop character and fruity hop flavor.A solid example is the Grapefruit Jungle, an IPA that sold out within days at the brewery. Fear couldn’t even get a growler to bring to beer school in Bloomington. Yogi’s has a precious six-barrel order that is worth checking out while it’s still around. Sun King brewers mixed citra, emerald and cascade hops in what turns out to create astonishing grapefruit notes and a blend of fruit taste. Fear said there was no fruit added, only hop character. “If you order this and don’t like it, I’ll buy it from you,” Fear told the group at Yogi’s. “It’s that good.”Hops might be what the Sun King brewers love best, but they still make a damn fine dark. Hellmuth said malt character is his big thing, and he’s one of the few guys at Sun King who really digs brews such as the dopplebock more than a pale ale.“I’m not anti-hop, I just went through that phase, and I loved it,” he said. “Now I like nice, malty beers.”The dopplebock was divine. As the namesake suggests, it’s a double-strong lager that, as Fear described, is pretty much liquid bread. The style was originally created to get fasting monks through the season of Lent.“If you couldn’t have anything but this for a month, we’d probably be a little skinny and a lot drunker, but we’d be alive,” Fear said.It tastes like a heavy, dark German loaf of bread. Its strong malt character and undeniable bock texture makes me definitely want to come back for more.I’ll also be coming back to beer school. The opportunities to chat with the pros and learn a whole lot more about a whole lot of great beers is worth taking a Tuesday night off. Plus, Yogi’s tap selection is always worth a gander.“There is no other place in town that has even close to the number of options we’ve got,” Heiss said. “We also refuse to let it get stale. We are changing the beer menu almost every couple of days.”
(03/07/12 5:33am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Mitt Romney strengthened his lead in the Republican primary race last night when he won the states of Massachusetts, Vermont, Virginia and Idaho in the Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses.Rick Santorum and Romney were neck-and-neck just below 40 percent of the vote apiece, fighting for the 66 delegates Ohio carries (of 2,286 nationwide) as of press time. Ohio, a swing state, was expected to play a significant role in Tuesday’s results and the Republican primary race. Late Tuesday night, Romney led in urban areas near Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland, while Santorum led elsewhere in the state.Romney also turned his attention away from the other Republican primary candidates and toward President Barack Obama in his speech in Boston on Tuesday night.After thanking the other candidates for a strong run across the country, he began a concentrated effort to attack Obama’s policies in preparation for the general election.“To the millions of Americans that have paid bills they cannot pay, I have a message for you. You have not failed. You have a president who has failed, and that is going to change,” Romney said. “For this administration, the unemployment numbers are just another annoying statistic in the way of reelection.”Romney has been the predicted nominee for some time, but Santorum has continually challenged Romney since the Iowa caucuses. Santorum won North Dakota, Oklahoma and Tennessee.“This was a great night tonight. We’re going to win a few, we’re going to lose a few and we’re going to get a whole packet of silver medals,” Santorum said from Steubenville, Ohio, on Tuesday. “We went up against enormous odds. There wasn’t a single state where I spent more money than the people I was able to defeat.”Newt Gingrich won his second state of the race with a landslide in his home state of Georgia. He also won South Carolina at the end of January and has primarily received his support from conservative voters in southern states.“We survived the national elites’ efforts to kill us,” Gingrich said in Atlanta. “There are a lot of bunny rabbits that run through. I am the tortoise.”Romney and Santorum will have momentum going into the next few weeks as they vie for the 1,144 delegates necessary to win the Republican primary in August.Wyoming and Kansas are the next states up for grabs. Their delegations will be determined Saturday.
(03/02/12 5:01am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>HARRISBURG, ILL. — Jesse Raymer was asleep when the sky opened above his bed. A couple hours before dawn Wednesday, a monster tornado snapped a tree at the base and sent it crashing through the wall of his bedroom, knocking into his bedpost. A window broke as he sprang from the bed. His dog, Chauncey, sleeping nearby, jumped up, too.Raymer ran to the bathroom across the hall to find shelter with Chauncey at his side. As he opened the door, the beast from above peeled the roof off his one-story home. Debris, wind and rain poured into the bathroom.Deciding to head for the basement, he fumbled his way through the living room, tripping over a small table and knocking over a piano stool. “Well, I was in a hurry,” he said Thursday. “It chased me.”He didn’t have time to get dressed before his flight to safety, so he found clothes in the basement and waited out the storm. That’s when he realized Chauncey was missing.***Across the Midwest, 12 people were killed in the Wednesday storms. Six were found in a two-block wide swath of destruction in Harrisburg, Ill., a small town about four hours from Bloomington.Twenty-four hours after the storm, generators whined everywhere. State and county officers patrolled the streets, checking for work permits and looking for looters. Insurance agents were already going door to door to collect claims information and assess damage. Fiberglass insulation blanketed streets, sidewalks, lawns and porches like fine lace. Broken glass and splintered shards from trees and homes were scattered everywhere. Metal fence posts were bent like wet noodles. Raymer, who spent Thursday cleaning, knew he was one of the lucky ones. Not only had his life been spared, but he had been reunited with Chauncey. A few hours after the storm had passed, the dog came back home to Raymer’s doorstep.Thursday morning, insulation and shreds of roof still littered Raymer’s house and yard on Roosevelt Street, south of town. City officials have placed a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew in Harrisburg to reduce looting, and storms were expected overnight. Raymer’s biggest goal, however, was not to clean up outside, but inside. Next to his home, Raymer has a small space where he had once operated a beauty salon. Anything Raymer was able to move to the salon would be saved. Anything left in the home would be at the mercy of the rains expected Thursday night.Denise Raymer, Jesse’s sister-in-law, had driven from Bloomington, Ill., about four and a half hours north of Harrisburg, to help Jesse and his mother, Loeva Raymer, clean up after the tornado.“You may need to choose what you want the most, try to cover up the rest with plastic,” Denise said. As they went through the items in Jesse’s house, everyone helped out. Jesse and Denise packed boxes while Loeva, 88, carried items without as much damage to the salon. ***As they organized inside, a group of students from Harrisburg High School and Southeastern Illinois College moved from house to house on Roosevelt Street to help clean away branches and lend a hand.Down the street, another group tried to remove a tree that had been knocked onto an electric wire. In another area, a whole strip mall had been flattened. A small pond near the Walmart was full of shopping carts and other debris. A pile of broken wood and brick lay sprawled in a small field just off the highway.“That used to be a church,” Darlene Goolsby said, surveying the damage just before dawn.Goolsby lives in an area of town not devastated by the storm. She is the coordinator of the local office of the Golden Circle, a group that helps area seniors receive food and medical care.The offices, which are housed in a few buildings across from the destroyed church, were partially demolished by the tornado. “We’ve got part of our kitchen left,” Goolsby said. “I just don’t know how I’ll feed my seniors.”Early that morning, she arrived alone at the site. She took her time walking around the debris to see it a little better, trying to find where to begin.A red Kia sedan was resting where a wall used to be. Goolsby could point out the general area where her office had once stood, but there was no way to tell for sure what had survived the storm.Her biggest fear was the loss of the agency’s important files. Somewhere in that pile of matches was important information about prescriptions and other medical information. The office serves anywhere from 100 to 120 seniors every day, providing home-delivered meals, adult day care and other services.By midday, a team of volunteers had descended on the site. A hydraulic crane helped move massive piles of debris.Soon after the crane went to work, the files were found and moved to a safer location. The local Masonic Lodge offered space to help the agency get back on its feet. Other Golden Circle offices from neighboring counties pitched in and helped check on the seniors usually served by the Harrisburg office.Goolsby was standing to the side as the crane pulled out more and more pieces of insulation and broken roof. Then Jeffrey Goolsby, her husband, shouted from the top of the debris pile and held a photograph high in the air. “Hey, Darlene!” he shouted, showing off the photograph.She immediately started jumping up and down, cheering and clapping.It was a photo of her grandchildren that she had kept on her desk. She thought she had lost it. Under the piles of trash and twisted waste, she had found her office.“We found that photo just like it was brand new,” Darlene said.The crane was turned off, and volunteers ran onto the pile to begin digging with their hands.Before long, she found all of her photographs, a handful of office supplies, a box of files and other parts of her desk. “Is that my desk calendar?” she said, sorting through the trash. “Yeah, I’ve gotta have that.”She even found the brand-new computer she had not even had time to open before the storm.All the salvageable items were placed in a large white cooler.By the end of the search, Darlene’s entire office fit in the cooler.Jefferey picked up the cooler and carried Darlene’s office away. There wasn’t much left, but she was thankful for every photograph she found of her grandchildren.“There are a lot of little miracles around here today.”
(03/01/12 5:04am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Indiana’s primary election might not be until May 8, but Hoosier voters could decide the Republican nominee for president.As the battle for the GOP nomination continues between Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, it becomes more and more likely that Indiana will play a major role in choosing who takes the stage in Tampa, Fla. at the Republican National Convention this summer.“Gov. Romney has shown strength in the Northeast and in the far west, but in the industrial heartland like Indiana, we don’t know,” said Leslie Lenkowsky, a clinical professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. “By May, it could play an important role. We just don’t know that.”Indiana Republicans say the late primary date actually makes the Indiana primary vital in choosing the next president.“Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina help to whittle down the field, but we could potentially crown the nominee,” said Pete Seat, communications director for the Indiana Republican Party. “The longer this stretches out, the more realistic that looks.”Beyond the primary, Indiana will also play a major role in the general election.Indiana’s electoral votes went for the Democrats in 2008 for the first time in decades. President Barack Obama will hope to re-inspire Hoosier voters, while Republicans are anxious to win the state back.“It definitely could happen again,” Lenkowsky said. “There’s no reason President Obama in his re-election campaign won’t have a similar strategy.”Presidential candidates are expected to spend a fair amount of time in the Hoosier state leading up to election day because of Indiana’s role as a battleground state, Seat said.Many of the Midwest states are considered swing states and garner attention from national candidates.“Because we are in the Midwest, the road to the White House goes right through the heartland,” Seat said.The GOP primary race for a U.S. Senate seat is also hotly contested. Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., is being challenged in the primary by State Treasurer Richard Mourdock, a Tea Party conservative.Lenkowsky pointed to Christine O’Donnell in Delaware and Sharron Angle in Nevada as Tea Party members who won the primary against strong Republican candidates but lost in the general election to Democratic challengers.If Mourdock were to win the primary, a lot of national attention would be directed toward the outcome of the Indiana senate race this fall, Lenkowsky said. “When you get around to November, there’ll be a lot of Senate seats up, and the Republicans could win back the Senate,” Lenkowsky said.Even though Indiana historically has been a red state, Lenkowsky said all you have to do is look at the history of elected officials to see the pattern of split congressional delegations and split state legislatures to see the democratic presence here.“It is very possible for Democrats to win in the state,” Lenkowsky said.