Indiana

Letters: Democrats already moved to the right. It failed.

Published

1 year ago

November 11, 2024

Press Room

Letters: Democrats already moved to the right. It failed.

Christopher Benson
| Indianapolis Star

It was with a complete lack of surprise that I came across James Briggs’ column saying that Democrats need to “move to the right.”

Readers may find themselves puzzled to hear that a Democratic Party that ran a Republican as their gubernatorial candidate remains insufficiently conservative. But a core dogma of Briggs’ marketable brand of politics is that what the generic American voter wants is a centrist. If Democrats are losing, it must be because they are not moderate enough, and thus they must move right.

But let me offer a counterpoint. If we ignore the rhetoric and just look at the material reality of what became policy, Joe Biden’s presidency enacted this centrist vision of moderate governance and it has been enthusiastically rejected by voters. Biden leaves office a failure, replaced by the only figure in politics who is more unpopular.

I agree that Democrats need a new vision for the party. But voters have already told us that the Briggs vision ain’t it. They’re speaking. Will you listen?

Christopher Benson lives in Indianapolis.

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Indiana

BREAKING: Two men injured in Elkhart shooting

Published

3 hours ago

February 8, 2026

Press Room

BREAKING: Two men injured in Elkhart shooting

ELKHART, IN (WSBT 22) — Elkhart Police Department officers responded to a call of a shooting with injuries near the Martins Supermarket on Jackson Blvd around 5:20 p.m. Sunday.

When officers arrived on the scene, they learned that two male victims had gone to the hospital with apparent gunshot wounds.

Both victims were evaluated and treated for what are believed to be non-life-threatening injuries.

According to the report the initial investigation indicates “suspect(s) in a vehicle shot at the victims’ vehicle while it was possibly near the intersection of E Lexington Ave/Junior Achievement Blvd”

This investigation is active and on going with no arrests being made at this time.

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Anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked to call the Elkhart Police Department at 574-295-7070 or Michiana Crime Stoppers at 574-288-STOP.

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Indiana

Accident investigation underway after fatal crash in Indianapolis

Published

15 hours ago

February 8, 2026

Press Room

Accident investigation underway after fatal crash in Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — One person is dead after an accident just before 11 p.m. Saturday night.

IMPD were dispatched to a personal injury accident in the 1400 block of East Washington Street where there was “at least one vehicle involved,” IMPD said in a press release shortly after the crash.

The occupant of the one vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene.

IMPD-certified accident investigators responded to the scene to investigate further.

East Washington Street between Arsenal Avenue and Oriental Street will be closed while the investigation is active.

No further information have been provided at this time.

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Indiana

3 takeaways from Wisconsin’s overtime loss to Indiana, aside from officiating

Published

1 day ago

February 7, 2026

Press Room

3 takeaways from Wisconsin’s overtime loss to Indiana, aside from officiating

The Hoosiers dominated inside, scoring 44 points in the paint against the Badgers.
Despite offensive inconsistencies from the rest of the team, Wisconsin’s Nolan Winter scored 26 points on 9-of-13 shooting.
The Badgers held a four-point lead in the final minute of regulation, but they were unable to secure the win.

BLOOMINGTON, IN – Wisconsin’s John Blackwell was visibly in disbelief, with his hands on the back of his head before appearing to plead with an official following a game-changing foul call in the final seconds.

The stinging moment – one that sent Blackwell to the bench with five fouls and one of Indiana’s better free-throw shooters to the line for the game-tying and go-ahead points – and another controversial call before that may stick in the craw of many UW fans long after the Feb. 7 trip to Assembly Hall.

But for as much as those final 15 seconds may prompt Wisconsin fans to say “what if,” the Badgers also had other shortcomings that led to a 78-77 overtime loss.

“We put ourselves in that position by not coming out strong,” Wisconsin forward Nolan Winter said. “We didn’t execute our offense. We were lost on defense early on. And then to put in the refs’ hands if you’re going to win or lose a game – that’s not what we should be doing.”

Box score | UW schedule | Standings

Here are three takeaways from the Badgers’ loss:

Indiana’s physicality put Wisconsin in challenging position

In a game where the officiating crew let each team play – without a free throw attempted until the second half – Indiana had a clear advantage in interior physicality.

The Hoosiers finished with 44 points in the paint – tied for the most by any UW opponent this season. (The Badgers’ other game with 44 points allowed in the paint was their 30-point loss to then-No. 22 Nebraska on Dec. 10.)

Indiana’s ability to score down low with ease masked the Hoosiers’ unwieldy 23% 3-point shooting. IU finished the game with 73.1% of its scoring coming either from the paint or the free-throw line.

Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said the Badgers needed to be better both in one-on-one situations and in their ability to “squeeze better and send some help.”

“We could have done a better job of keeping the dribble out of the paint,” Gard said. “We got beat off the dribble. We got spread out at times. … We needed to be better and more physical.”

Wisconsin showed some improvement in its physicality in the second half although Indiana still scored 29 of its 36 second-half points either in the paint or at the free-throw line. The Hoosiers’ only made field goal in overtime was in the paint as well.

“We were more physical for stretches in the second half, specifically the back half of that second half,” Gard said. “We had figured out some things – where we could help from, where we couldn’t. We just played more physical. I think that was the biggest thing.”

Nolan Winter offered consistency for Badgers’ otherwise-inconsistent offense

Wisconsin’s offense, which has experienced plenty of highs and lows in 2025-26, had another roller-coaster afternoon in the Badgers’ loss to Indiana.

UW opened the game with 3-of-16 (18.8%) shooting, as the Badgers struggled to score from seemingly any area on the court. UW bookended the loss with missing three of its four shot attempts in overtime.

But the Badgers also had a nine-minute stretch in the second half with 7-of-10 shooting.

Nick Boyd, the team’s leading scorer this season, made his first two shots before missing his next six attempts. Boyd ended up shooting 2 of 13 from 2-point range and 5 of 6 from 3-point range. John Blackwell, UW’s second-leading scorer this season, had two first-half points on 1-of-8 shooting before finishing with 18 points.

Andrew Rohde suffered from unusually cold shooting throughout the day, going 2 of 10. Braeden Carrington similarly was 2 of 8.

Seemingly the one constant on the offensive end was Nolan Winter, who finished with a team-high 26 points on 9-of-13 shooting. (The rest of the Badgers shot 31% from the field and 29% from 3-point range.)

He scored 10 of those points in the final eight-plus minutes of the first half, helping the Badgers shrink their deficit from 14 to six at halftime.

His three 3-pointers made were second on UW behind Boyd’s five. Some of Winter’s scoring also was the result of UW taking advantage of how Indiana switched on ball screens.

“We found him,” Gard said. “I thought we could have found him more. I thought we missed him a lot in the first half. But he found himself in a good position, and obviously he made plays.”

Wisconsin was in prime position to ‘shut the door’ in regulation

Wisconsin’s resilience was again on display in the second half as it came back from a 11-point deficit with fewer than 10 minutes remaining in regulation to take its first lead with fewer than two minutes remaining.

“Obviously we put ourselves in some situations early on where it was going to be tough to come back, and we came together and we did it,” Winter said.

That followed a month of January that featured a 14-point comeback against then-No. 1 Michigan, 20 and 11-point comebacks against Minnesota and an 11-point comeback against Ohio State.

Blackwell’s fadeaway jumper gave UW a 69-68 lead, and then Winter hit a 3-pointer on the subsequent possession to expand the lead to 72-68. The college basketball analytics site KenPom gave Wisconsin an 85.5% chance of winning after Winter’s timely shot.

But then Lamar Wilkerson quickly got to the line and made a pair of free throws to make it a 72-70 game. Rohde missed an open 3-point look, and Wilkerson drew another foul and made the game-tying free throws.

There was enough time for UW to draw up a play that gave Blackwell a chance at another game-winner. His fadeaway attempt was off the mark, though, leading to an overtime period that ended with two controversial foul calls and two more consequential Wilkerson free throws.

“We had ourselves in a position where we needed to shut the door on this thing, and it didn’t happen,” Gard said.

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