DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) – For many families, when their loved ones go to work, it isn’t promised they will return home. During the Decatur Workers’ Memorial, community members honor the lives lost on the job.

“More than 380 workers are killed, and more than 8,600 suffer injuries and illnesses because of dangerous working conditions that are preventable,” one speaker said.  

Organizers said safe jobs save lives. 

“It’s a reminder to everybody that safety is everybody’s responsibility. That, it’s not just the employee, but it’s also the employer’s responsibility to make sure that everybody goes to work and comes home in the same condition,” said Lloyd Holman, co-chair of the Mid-Illinois Labor Council.  

This year, the Mid-Illinois Labor Council added Samuel Ward’s name to the memorial wall. Ward died in November after an electrocution at the Clinton Power Station. 

“Every time you walk out of that door, you may not come back. But if you happen to come back home to your loved ones or to your home. Thank God for that opportunity, “another speaker said.  

This memorial is not just about remembering those lost, but pushing for safer workplaces, so all workers make it home to their families. 

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. ––– In the last week of the regular season, Indiana will host Evansville (April 29) and Illinois for the team’s final Big Ten series (May 1-3) at Andy Mohr Field.
 
The Hoosiers go into the week at 37-13 and 14-7 in the Big Ten. Evansville is 21-24 while Illinois comes into the week at 14-36 overall and 3-17 in the conference.
 
QUICK HITTERS:

• IU’s offense ranks top-15 nationally in many statistical categories: No. 14 Batting Average (.352), No. 4 On Base Percentage (.459), No. 6 RBI (374), No. 8 Scoring (8.18), No. 1 Hit By Pitch (68), No. 6 Total Runs (409), No. 8 Stolen Bases (112), No. 2 Triples (25).
• Avery Parker earned Big Ten Player of the Week after hitting .500 with five home runs and a double while not striking out once in Indiana’s 3-1 week. The Hoosiers defeated Valparaiso and won the series at Michigan.
• Avery Parker became the program’s career home run leader last weekend when she hit home run No. 46 at Iowa on April 19.
• Of Indiana’s 37 wins this year, 20 of them have been by run rule.
• Against Portland State in the Littlewood Invitational (Feb. 12), VanBrandt hit for the cycle as part of a 5-for-5 day where she also totaled two home runs.

 
LAST TIME OUT:

• Indiana took care of business against Valparaiso (April 22) in a 14-1 win in five innings before winning a road series at Michigan, 2-1.
• The Hoosiers took the Friday and Sunday games of the series, including an 11-2 win in five innings on Sunday. The Hoosiers blasted 13 home runs across the four-game stretch.
• After the game on Sunday, Indiana broke its single-season program record of 409 runs and tied their single-season record for RBIs with 374.
• Indiana has won 10 of their last 12 games dating back to April 8 in the win versus Butler.
• Parker’s two home runs against Michigan (April 26) put her at 50 and 51 career home runs.
• In that Sunday win, Taylor Hess pitched a complete game and struck out three batters.

 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT:

• Evansville is 21-24 on the season and has a 12-12 record in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Purple Aces lost their most recent series at UIC after winning three games in a row (Bradley 2x and Northern Kentucky).
• Niki Bode leads the way at the plate for the Purple Aces, posting a .team-high 407 batting average. Taylor Howe (.314) and Jess Willsey (.306) also have had strong seasons hitting for them.
• Illinois comes into the week at 14-36 overall and 3-17 in the Big Ten. The Fighting Illini got swept versus Penn State in their last Big Ten series.
• The Fighting Illini’s Skylar Brennan (.324) and Adisyn Caryl (.318) are Illinois’ two best hitters. Each of them have eight doubles on the season.
• Abby Sabalaskey and Karley Yergler are the Illini’s two-most consistent arms, each having at least 27 appearances and 50 strikeouts.

 
SERIES HISTORY NOTES:

• Indiana leads the all-time series versus Evansville, 27-8. The Hoosiers have won five in a row against them and Wednesday’s matchup will be the first meeting since 2023. Illinois leads the all-time series versus Indiana, 21-11. Indiana and Illinois have not faced one another since 2022.

JOHNSTON, Iowa (Gray Media Iowa State Capitol Bureau)-Three Republican candidates for Iowa governor debated education policy and abortion at Iowa PBS, their first forum of the campaign.

The debate featured former Department of Administrative Services head Adam Steen, state Rep. Eddie Andrews and former state lawmaker Brad Sherman. Two other Republican candidates, Congressman Randy Feenstra and Zach Lahn, did not attend.

The candidates are running to replace Gov. Kim Reynolds, who is retiring.

All three candidates disagreed with Feenstra’s position that private schools should stop turning away students because of limited space or special needs, though they offered different explanations.

Education Savings Accounts, or ESAs, allow state funding to follow students to private schools.

Steen said Feenstra’s position on ESAs makes him sound like Democratic candidate Rob Sand. He said private schools should receive additional funding if they choose to accept students with special needs.

“I don’t think schools should be forced to receive who they want to receive,” Steen said. “Just because we have a situation right now in our family, we are not going to force a school to accept kids that they aren’t prepared for.”

Andrews voted for the ESA program in 2023. He said private schools are already working to accept more students with disabilities.

“I think most private schools want to accept those and are now looking to expand, change their infrastructure and certainly some of the larger ones are already doing that,” Andrews said.

Sherman said the focus should be on curriculum, not enrollment policies.

“The content of the education the children are getting, that’s why so many people are looking at ESAs because they are not satisfied with the education coming out of the public schools,” Sherman said.

All three candidates backed banning abortion altogether. Sherman said some women who receive abortions may need to be prosecuted. Steen said he wants to ban chemical abortions. Andrews said he wants more support for pregnant women.

The Republican primary is June 2. Rob Sand is the only Democratic candidate for governor.

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Isabella Warren covers state government and politics for Gray Media-owned stations in Iowa. Email her at isabella.warren@kcrg.com; and follow her on Facebook at Isabella Warren TV on X/Twitter@isabellaw_gray, and on Instagram@IsabellaWarrenTV.