Local News

Hard to get there from here. At least for now. It'll be slow going for quite some time in front of Castle High School as road construction continues on 261. The road may reopen for the start of school but congestion will extend well into the school year. Transportation and school officials are issuing early warnings about back-ups in the area.

Evansville's firecracker ban has been extended because of the extreme heat. The ban on fireworks now will last until Friday July 13th according to the mayor's office.

Can we blame a seeming upturn in criminal activity on the hot weather? An Indiana State University instructor says there may be a link --  but there‘s not much research to back it up. Melissa Benningfield of the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice says increased crime during summer months is likely more due to longer days and the fact that people want to go outside. Benningfield also attributes any rise to the fact that more kids are out of school and outdoors more often.

You don't want to get clobbered by a huge Vectren Bill next month when you pay for this excessive heat wave. Some tips to save energy in your house include Setting the thermostat at the highest comfortable temperature and dress appropriately. Also,
* Be sure the filter in your air conditioner is clean.

A restaurant near Casino Aztar closes its doors and lays off its workers. Fast Eddy's opened in 1996. Owners say the closing was a business decision, because crowds have fallen off. But, they hope to have a new concept ready and the doors back open this fall. For now, the sign on the door reads: "closed for renovations." 

Vanderburgh County officers say a mobile home on Fawn Lake Drive had such deplorable living conditions the three children living there were taken by authorities. Deputies say the home was filthy: covered in trash and filled with cockroaches, and a naked child was asleep on the floor. Outside, they found Donald Monarch sitting in his car "cutting himself." Wife Heather Monarch told them she had dealt with child services in Warrick County before. Donald and Heather Monarch were both arrested on three counts of neglect of a dependent.

The Red Cross is urging residents living without air conditioning to take precautions against the heat now. Cooling stations are open all over the Tri-State, through Friday from 10am-4pm. Locations include Red Cross offices in Evansville, Henderson, Owensboro, Princeton, Mount Vernon at Hedges Central Elementary School, Boonville at the Tri-Cap Building, and in Washington from 11 to 3 only through Thursday. A number of Red Cross partnering agencies & supporters will also have cooling stations open in 8 area counties.

A new marketing campaign is aimed at getting more Indiana drivers to support land conservation efforts. The Indiana Heritage Trust launched the campaign to build awareness and increase sales of the Environmental License Plate. The artwork playfully position the plate as the "Protector of Indiana's Environment" and details what types of conservation efforts in Indiana benefit from plate sales.

The Playful Protector campaign comes on the heels of the Environmental Plate's 20th anniversary. The BMV has a new tag line: When you renew, choose blue.

The Supreme Court has struck down key provisions of Arizona's crackdown on immigrants. But the court said Monday that one part of the law requiring police to check the status of someone they suspect is not in the United States legally could go forward. Even there, though, the justices said the provision could be subject to additional legal challenges. Legislators in several states, including Indiana, have been waiting for guidance from the Supreme Court on the issue.

The Evansville Police Department took some on-line posts very seriously and stormed a house on Powell Street. Police spokesman Jason Cullum says the messages at Topics Dot Com were threatening officers and their families and said they didn't care if kids were home everybody would die. Cullum says the SWAT team served a warrant in the 600 block of Powell but they're were no arrests. They determined the people there at the time were not involved.