Latest news with #Hoosier
Indianapolis Star
15 hours ago
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
Darian DeVries lands first recruit, a 4-star guard, for IU basketball's 2026 recruiting class
Darian DeVries has his first commitment for IU's 2026 recruiting class, one just outside the top 100. BLOOMINGTON — Indiana basketball landed a verbal commitment from 2026 four-star guard Prince-Alexander Moody on Friday night. The 6-foot-4, 180-pounder rising senior out of Bishop McNamara was recently on campus for an official visit. "I'm blessed to continue this journey with the cream and crimson—I'm a Hoosier!" he posted on Instagram. He's rated No. 104 nationally, the No. 27 shooting guard and the No. 5 recruit in Maryland per On3's industry rankings. The Terps were one of his nine scholarship offers alongside the likes of Illinois, Michigan State and Virginia Tech. First-year Indiana coach Darian DeVries turned his attention to next year's signing class in recent weeks after signing 12 players (10 transfers and two freshman) to build out his 2025-26 roster. The staff has hosted a series of camps and been out on the road recruiting. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. Moody had a built in relationship with the staff having played for IU assistant Kenny Johnson on the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) circuit for Team Takeover and their relationship dates back to when the guard was in the seventh grade.
Indianapolis Star
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Indianapolis Star
Dozens of Indiana DCS employees could lose their jobs due to restructuring
As many as 40 employees of the Indiana Department of Child Services could lose their jobs under a reorganization eliminating three layers of management, which agency leaders said would improve communication and decision-making. The agency protecting Hoosier children from abuse and neglect announced the changes Friday. They go into effect July 1. DCS Director Adam Krupp said the layoffs won't put children at risk because 'these are not the folks on the front line.' Instead, the employees are part of middle and upper management that Krupp is reducing so that family case managers have a more direct line to authority. Between 16 and 40 employees could be laid off, depending on if some accept new lower-paying positions. 'This is going to reduce the opportunity for communication breakdowns and it's going to reduce the delay in decision-making,' he said. 'I very much believe this will improve our outcomes in terms of focusing on child safety and working closely with families, whether it be on the prevention side or the intervention side.' The behemoth agency has more than 4,040 employees, with almost 1,800 family case managers who handle daily interactions with children and families. 'All Hoosier children deserve a safe place to lay their head at night, and our most vulnerable kids often need an extra layer of security. Things are not working as well as they should at DCS, but we are going to change that,' said Gov. Mike Braun. 'With this entrepreneurial plan, we will remove layers of inefficient middle management and bureaucracy and instead redirect resources to frontline services like foster care and family case workers to keep kids safe.' It is estimated the state could save between $4 million and $8 million from restructuring – dubbed Project Awaken — but that money could also be redirected to child safety efforts. Krupp talked with the ICC and went through the nine layers of employees currently in the agency, from him all the way down to family case managers. The reorganization will eliminate a level of assistant deputy directors and several others. The state will also move from 18 different regions — each with its own manager — to five. The agency said it looked at caseloads, square mileage and staff to help determine the regions, generally aligning with a central region and four quadrants. He noted that these regions had slowly developed their own microcultures, or 18 different ways of doing things. The streamlining will result in more consistent policies. 'Executive management, right now, we are too far removed from a family case manager, and that's not because of geographical distance. That's simply because of all the layers of communication, information flow and decision-making,' Krupp said. He added the state will continue to hire family case managers, noting it's a constant cycle of turnover and training. More: Kids could be sleeping in your local DCS office. Here's how often it happens in Indiana. 'It never really stops,' Krupp said. He said currently the agency needs between 175 and 195 more family case managers to meet statutory caseload ratios. DCS has long struggled with retention due to the stress of the job and the three months needed for training. There was a brief move during the General Assembly session to eliminate those caseload rules, but Krupp said that is not a priority. He said lawmakers considered giving the agency more flexibility. As part of the restructuring, the legal division will also be aligned under the new regions and work more as a co-leader with regional directors. Financial and budgeting efforts have been centralized so that there is more visibility into day-to-day spending. DCS has regularly overspent its appropriation in the state budget. Krupp added that work toward reorganization started during the transition period after the November election. The agency in May announced new mission, vision and purpose statements and this is the second phase of reorganization.
Indianapolis Star
2 days ago
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
Darian DeVries rounds out his first IU basketball staff with eight hires to support staff
BLOOMINGTON – IU basketball on Thursday announced an eight-person support staff ahead of Darian DeVries' first season as coach. Officializing those hires rounds out DeVries' coaching staff in Bloomington. Most have already been confirmed, but Thursday's announcement formalizes the group, as follows: ∎ Mike Bargen, special assistant to the head coach Bargen comes to IU after 10 seasons spent at Bradley, where he served as associated head coach. The Braves won 196 games and three combined regular-season and conference tournament titles in his time on staff. ∎ Ryan Horn, head strength and conditioning coach Horn joins DeVries from West Virginia, and he spent time with IU's new head coach in the same position at Drake as well. Horn also worked at Wichita State, Wake Forest and Tulsa, among other stops. ∎ Andrew Vereen, athletic trainer Vereen might be the most notable name on the list, given he replaces longtime and beloved former head trainer Tim Garl. Vereen spent five years working as a trainer at Drake, where he worked with the Bulldogs' men's basketball, cheerleading, women's soccer and softball programs at various points. ∎ Justin Bailey, director of player personnel For four years an assistant coach at Sam Houston State, Bailey spent last season as the BearKats' associate head coach before making the switch to Bloomington. During his time in Huntsville, Bailey helped develop, among others, current Hoosier Lamar Wilkerson, who transferred to IU in the spring. ∎ Garrett Sturtz, director of operations An Iowa native, Sturtz has been with DeVries since his playing career at Drake. Sturtz first walked on with the Bulldogs before eventually setting program records in games played, games won and career rebounds. Sturtz served as a graduate assistant for one year in Des Moines before joining DeVries as director of operations last winter at West Virginia. ∎ Jalen Cannady, video and player development analyst Cannady spent last season working in a similar role for DeVries at West Virginia, and he has experience coaching both in college the NBA G League as well. He spent the 2023-24 season working as a player development coach and video coordinator for the Birmingham Squadron, New Orleans' G League affiliate. ∎ Jackson Creel, graduate manager Creel spent the past two seasons as a walk-on at IU, earning academic All-Big Ten honors during his playing career. He is originally from Illinois, where he was an All-Southern Illinois Team selection in high school. ∎ ShanQuan Hemphill, graduate manager Hemphill is the last former Drake player to join DeVries' staff, having played for Indiana's first-year coach from 2020-22. The Michigan City native was a second-team All-Missouri Valley Conference selection during his playing career, and he spent time playing overseas after finishing college.
Indianapolis Star
3 days ago
- Business
- Indianapolis Star
Federal NPR, PBS cuts could shut down some Indiana public media stations, leader says
Some Hoosier public radio and television stations could be forced to shutter if President Donald Trump's administration is successful in its most recent attempt to defund NPR and PBS. Indiana's 17 stations are already grappling with the loss of millions of dollars from the state, which is forcing tighter budgeting, consolidation efforts and layoffs in at least one case. "The state funding cut was a gut punch," said Mark Newman, executive director of Indiana's network of public broadcasting stations. Without the federal money "They could be done." Earlier this month, the U.S. House approved legislation that would seek to withhold $1.1 billion that was already approved for local public media stations across the country over the next two years. The U.S. Senate still needs to vote on the bill. The chamber's appropriations committee will hear the legislation June 25. Nearly a third of Indiana Public Broadcasting's total budget — about $13 million — comes from the state and federal governments, according to a WFYI analysis. Without that financial support, smaller and more rural stations will be most at risk for closure or dramatic cuts. State and federal money accounts for more than 50% of some of their budgets. One of the more extreme examples is Lakeshore Public Media, which serves northwest Indiana. It could lose 60% of its total operating revenue between lost state dollars and pending federal cuts. Layoffs and a reduction in TV and radio programming are already expected, though not finalized. For WFYI, state cuts will cost the station about $590,000 a year. Congress could strip away an additional $1.5 million a year in federal funding — about 11% of the station's budget. These cuts ultimately mean the state's existing news deserts could expand, Newman said. Even if local outlets don't permanently close, he said, the cuts could hamstring their ability to produce news coverage in areas where accessible and consistent coverage is already limited. "If you don't have that — have that trusted and independent source — where does it come from?" he said. "There's a greater likelihood that people would rely on less reliable sources of news and information about what's happening locally, regionally, nationally and internationally." Indiana has 17 television and radio stations in Indianapolis, Bloomington, Fort Wayne, Evansville, Vincennes, Muncie, West Lafayette, South Bend, Merrillville and Elkhart. Since taking office, Trump has sought to strip all federal funding from National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting Service, asserting that public media have a liberal bias. Despite the focus on the national organizations, Newman said, they aren't the ones getting hit hardest. "The folks that get hurt by this are the stations: the WFYIs of the world or the WVPEs of the world," he said, "small, rural communities who have stations that serve as a lifeline to a information content and how they learn and perceive the world around them." Indiana's public media outlets were already limping through significant and somewhat unexpected state budget cuts, he said. In late April, Indiana's Republican supermajority approved a bare-bones state budget that included a last-minute measure to strip $7.4 million from Indiana Public Broadcasting. Stations have been finding ways to make up the loss of state money through fundraising, Newman said. Supporters have increased donations amid the threats, he said, but those surges are not sustainable long term. Across the board, he said, stations are working to find efficiencies and consolidate operations. Without federal support, Newman said, stations will be in survival mode. Some may have to close, but others would "absolutely" need to dip into reserves for daily operations, he said. It's difficult to see this effort as anything other than an attack on the freedom of the press, Newman said. Use of labels like "fake news" are difficult to understand because the rationale is unclear, he said. The White House has described public media as "radical, woke propaganda disguised as 'news'" and has used those criticisms as reason for the massive cuts. NPR and PBS have repeatedly denied those claims. In response to an executive order attempting to cease all federal public media funding, NPR and three Colorado public radio stations are suing the administration. The suit says the order violates the First Amendment and oversteps Trump's power as president. Newman said Indiana stations don't hear Trump's criticisms from local residents. Staff at these stations don't fit that narrative, he said. "It's just the environment that we're in, and it's just not journalism that's under attack in that way," he said. Public media leaders, including Newman, are encouraging people to call and write their lawmakers to talk about their relationship with public media and urge them to vote down the federal cuts through the organized push called "Protect My Public Media." The USA TODAY Network - Indiana's coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners.
Indianapolis Star
4 days ago
- Business
- Indianapolis Star
Polls say Trump's Big Beautiful Bill is unpopular. In Indy SBA chief says Main Street supports it
As President Donald Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' makes its way through Congress, his Small Business Administration leader visited Indianapolis on June 24 to tout the benefits she said the legislation could have on Hoosier business owners. Numerous independent polls released in recent weeks from outlets such as Fox News, the Washington Post, Quinnipiac University and the Kaiser Family Foundation show a majority of voters oppose Trump's bill. All four of those polls show more than 50% of individuals surveyed do not support the legislation. But SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler, in a visit to Olson Custom Designs in northwest Indianapolis, said that's not what she hears from small business owners around the country, who she said support provisions of the bill such as increasing the small business tax deduction and eliminating taxes on overtime from 2025 until 2029. There has been misinformation about the bill benefiting Wall Street rather than Main Street, Loeffler said. 'The One Big Beautiful Bill is a very pro-worker piece of legislation,' Loeffler told reporters. 'Every day that we wait for this bill to pass is one less day that small businesses, manufacturers, main streets and hardworking Americans have to wait to see the benefits of that bill.' Brothers Mitch and Brian Olson, who founded Olson Custom Designs in 2014, walked Loeffler past large machines that hissed and squeaked. The business, which has 80 employees, manufactures essential parts for medical, aerospace and defense industries. Mitch Olson told reporters that the tax benefits in Trump's bill could allow Olson Custom Designs to reinvest in the company and its employees. 'Passing along that savings back to our employees is crucial to recruit more employees and to help advance the ones we currently already have,' he said. The June 24 Indianapolis stop was Loeffler's second visit to the Hoosier State this year. She announced a manufacturing deregulation initiative at Aerodyn Engineering in March in one of her first stops since her confirmation as SBA Administrator earlier this year. Trump's signature legislation passed the U.S. House in May and is currently making its way through the U.S. Senate. Congressional leaders are hoping to send the bill to Trump's desk by the Fourth of July, but that timeline could face obstacles as federal lawmakers continue to debate and change portions of the bill. More One Big Beautiful Bill impacts: Ending energy tax credits, jobs for thousands of Hoosiers One of those provisions is Medicaid funding and eligibility. The bill would establish work requirements for Medicaid recipients, but the U.S. Senate has also proposed capping the Medicaid provider tax at 3.5%. Indiana has a 6% provider tax, which covers 90% of the state's costs for the Healthy Indiana Plan. State leaders on June 18 said they were concerned such cuts would make Indiana unable to afford the Healthy Indiana Plan, which is the state's health insurance program for low income Hoosiers. Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Brittany Carloni at Follow her on Twitter/X @CarloniBrittany.
