Indiana Capital Chronicle takes home awards for top journalist, best website
The Indiana Capital Chronicle took home seven awards from the Society of Professional Journalists' annual Indiana chapter banquet Friday evening — including a top recognition for Senior Reporter Casey Smith, who was honored as the Journalist of the Year.
SPJ board members cited Smith's accomplishments as an education writer while announcing the award, as well as her investigative work into Jamey Noel, a disgraced former sheriff now serving time in prison for misusing public funds for private gain.
Judges also recognized Smith as likely being the first reporter to witness a state execution. Smith earned the trust of Joseph Cochran's defense team and was invited as part of Cochran's personal guest list.
That work earned Smith — and ICC Editor-in-Chief Niki Kelly — a first-place nod in the criminal justice category. Kelly has covered Cochran's case since the beginning, when she was a courts reporter with the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette.
Smith also won a second-place finish for her environmental reporting on a 2024 bill seeking to exempt certain products from being defined as toxic PFAs 'forever chemicals.'
The ICC's four-person team won five other awards on Friday, including first place for best journalism website and third place for the publication's daily newsletter, Fast Break.
Senior Reporter Whitney Downard nabbed a first-place win for her personality profile of Abbey Hall, a Hoosier who traveled to Illinois for an abortion after learning her daughter would be born with a detrimental birth defect. Downard also won second place in the Medical and Science Reporting category for her story about transportation troubles for adult day care recipients following a transition to managed care.
To see a full list of nominees, visit SPJ's website. Winners were simultaneously announced on SPJ's X account.
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Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Breaking down claims Trump could arrest Putin at Alaska summit on Ukraine war
In August 2025, as U.S. President Donald Trump prepared to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, social media users speculated whether Trump could or should arrest Putin, who had been wanted on a warrant from the International Criminal Court since March 2023. The ICC accused Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, the Russian commissioner for children's rights, of "the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation." The U.S. has never been a formal member state of the ICC. Former President Bill Clinton signed the Rome Statute, the document that established the ICC, in 2000. The U.S. withdrew from the statute in 2002. Trump has imposed sanctions on court officials during both his administrations. As such, though it was impossible to know with certainty at the time of this writing, there was no indication Trump would arrest Putin in Alaska, nor did he have a legal obligation to do so. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders criticized the summit for not including Ukraine. Though Trump teased "land swapping" as part of a prospective peace deal, both Zelenskyy and Russian media dismissed this idea. In August 2025, as U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin prepared to meet in Alaska to discuss the war in Ukraine, speculation swirled online about whether Trump could or should arrest the Russian president at the meeting on a warrant from the International Criminal Court that accused Putin of carrying out war crimes. One X user claimed (archived) that arresting and extraditing Putin would be the "only right outcome" of the planned summit. Posts on Facebook (archived), Instagram (archived), Threads (archived) and Reddit (archived) also called for Putin's arrest at the summit. However, though it was impossible to know at the time of this writing exactly what would happen at the Aug. 15 summit, Trump was under no legal obligation to arrest Putin over the ICC's warrant. The U.S. has never ratified the Rome Statute, the document that gave the ICC its jurisdiction to prosecute certain crimes, and withdrew from it before its enactment in 2002. During his previous and current administrations, Trump has sanctioned ICC officials and otherwise dismissed the court's authority. Russia also did not recognize the court at the time of this writing. ICC relies on international partners for enforcement The ICC is an international court based in The Hague, Netherlands. The Rome Statute gave the court authority to try four types of crimes: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression. The United Nations also can refer cases to the ICC if they fall outside those four types of crimes, giving the court the power to try them. However, unlike — for example — a court in the U.S. that relies on domestic police forces and prosecutors to arrest and charge defendants, the ICC relies on national systems from member states to arrest and transfer defendants to the court as well as uphold sentences the court imposes. In March 2023, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, the Russian commissioner for children's rights. According to the warrant, the pair were allegedly responsible for "the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation," starting in February 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. That warrant meant that the national systems of any Rome Statute signatories had the authority to arrest Putin and Lvova-Belova should they enter those countries. US historically offered cold shoulder to ICC As mentioned above, the U.S. is not a Rome Statute signatory and has no commitments to the court or its warrant for Putin. The U.S. signed the Rome Statute under former President Bill Clinton in December 2000 but never ratified it, meaning it was never legally binding. The U.S. withdrew from the Rome Statute in 2002, during George W. Bush's first term as president. Trump imposed potential sanctions on ICC officials, employees, agents and their family members during his first administration. The Biden administration revoked those sanctions before Trump reimposed sanctions on the ICC early in his second presidency. Though the U.S. has previously handed over people with ICC warrants to national systems that in turn handed them over to the ICC, arresting and directly handing over Putin to the ICC would be an unheard-of measure. Even member states have previously opted not to arrest people with ICC warrants despite hosting them in their countries, an issue that the ICC has struggled to curb or discipline. In 2024, the ICC's Pre-Trial Chamber found that Mongolia, which ratified the Rome Statute in 2002, failed to arrest Putin when he visited the country in late August 2023, five months after the ICC issued a warrant for his arrest. However, Mongolia seemingly did not face consequences for its lack of cooperation with the ICC. The Assembly of Parties, the court's management oversight and legislative body, noted (Page 6) the incident in a resolution adopted by the ICC in December 2024. That resolution did not include any consequences for Mongolia's failure to arrest Putin. Trump teases 'land swapping' While on the campaign trail in 2024, Trump repeatedly said he could end the war in Ukraine in a single day if he were elected. Aug. 15, 2025, will be the administration's 208th day. Ahead of the summit, Trump told (at 1:56:55) reporters during a news conference on Aug. 11 that he would meet Putin and "probably in the first two minutes I'll know exactly whether or not a deal can be made." Trump also teased (at 1:51:05) discussions about "land swapping" between Russia and Ukraine. Russian media, reporting on Trump's news conference, wrote that "Moscow has repeatedly emphasized that the issue of territorial affiliation of Crimea, Donbas and Novorossiya is closed, and the results of the referendums are already reflected in the Russian constitution." Russia occupied and annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. It has pushed further into the Donbas regions of Luhansk and Donetsk since invading Ukraine in February 2022. Novorossiya was a region in imperial Russia, since part of southeastern Ukraine, that Russian forces have also moved to control as part of the 2022 invasion. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, criticized the decision to hold a summit without Ukraine in a video message (archived) on Aug. 9. Zelenskyy also dismissed the idea of "land swapping," writing on X (archived): "The answer to the Ukrainian territorial question already is in the Constitution of Ukraine. No one will deviate from this—and no one will be able to. Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupier." On Aug. 12, three days before the summit, European leaders said in a joint statement that "a just and lasting peace that brings stability and security must respect international law, including the principles of independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and that international borders must not be changed by force." The statement echoed Zelenskyy's, adding "The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine." According to reporting in German media, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arranged a call for European leaders with Trump and Zelenskyy on Aug. 13, two days before the planned summit. The call would focus on "pressure options against Russia, questions about Ukrainian territories seized by Russia, security guarantees for Kyiv and the sequencing of potential peace talks," according to a Politico report citing a German government spokesperson. In sum, there was no indication at the time of this writing that Trump and Putin's Alaska summit would end in the Russian president's arrest. Though Putin was wanted on a warrant from the ICC that accused him of carrying out war crimes, neither the U.S. nor Russia recognize or cooperate with the court. Whether Trump would be able to secure a peace deal in the war in Ukraine at a summit without Ukraine present remained to be seen. "Blocking Property of Certain Persons Associated With the International Criminal Court." Federal Register, 15 Jun. 2020, European Council. European Union Leaders' Statement on Ukraine. 12 Aug. 2025, Graham, Thomas. What Does Putin Really Want in Ukraine? | Council on Foreign Relations. Accessed 12 Aug. 2025. "How the Court Works." International Criminal Court, "Imposing Sanctions on the International Criminal Court." The White House, 6 Feb. 2025, International Criminal Court. "Ukraine Situation: ICC Pre-Trial Chamber II Finds That Mongolia Failed to Cooperate in the Arrest and Surrender of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Refers the Matter to the Assembly of States Parties." International Criminal Court, 24 Oct. 2024, Mongolia | International Criminal Court. Accessed 12 Aug. 2025. President Clinton on Signing of ICC Treaty (Rome Treaty). Accessed 12 Aug. 2025. "Putin Welcomed in Mongolia despite ICC Arrest Warrant." BBC News, 3 Sep. 2024, Rome Statute and Other Agreements | International Criminal Court. Accessed 12 Aug. 2025. "Situation in Ukraine: ICC Judges Issue Arrest Warrants against Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova." International Criminal Court, 17 Mar. 2025, The White House. "Executive Order on the Termination of Emergency With Respect to the International Criminal Court." The White House, 1 Apr. 2021, ---. "President Trump Holds a Press Conference, Aug. 11, 2025." YouTube, 11 Aug. 2025, "Trump Says He Can End the Russia-Ukraine War in One Day. Russia's UN Ambassador Says He Can't." AP News, 1 Jul. 2024, "Trump to Join European Leaders on Emergency Call before Putin Talks." POLITICO, 11 Aug. 2025, "Uganda LRA Commander Dominic Ongwen 'to Be Sent to ICC.'" BBC News, 13 Jan. 2015. "Ukraine in Maps: Tracking the War with Russia." BBC News, 24 Feb. 2022, "Ukraine Updates: Merz Invites Trump, Zelenskyy to Meeting – DW – 08/11/2025." Accessed 12 Aug. 2025. "U.S. Withdraws from International Criminal Court Treaty." DVIDS, Accessed 12 Aug. 2025. Van Den Berg, Stephanie. "South Africa Defends Decision to Ignore ICC's Bashir Arrest Warrant." Reuters, 7 Apr. 2017. @ZelenskyyUa. "Ukraine Is Ready for Real Decisions That Can Bring Peace." X, 9 Aug. 2025,
USA Today
18 hours ago
- USA Today
Exclusive: Former NFLPA leader DeMaurice Smith talks about league's upcoming CBA tussle
This might be perfect timing for DeMaurice Smith to promote a book reflecting on his personal journey and tenure as executive director of the NFL Players Association (NFLPA). Lloyd Howell, the man elected in 2023 to replace Smith, resigned last month in shame. JC Tretter, the former center and union president who gained powerful influence in recent years, stepped down, too, from his role as chief strategy officer. And with so many questions linked to a lack of transparency, particularly involving the election process and information from arbitration rulings not shared with the membership, the players union is mired in a big mess as David White begins as interim executive director. Smith's book, "Turf Wars: The Fight for the Soul of America's Game" (Random House, 368 pages, $32), was released on Aug. 5 as quite the coincidence. Leadership is a key theme. 'In no small way, we saw that play out over the last two months, in an unfortunate way,' Smith told USA TODAY Sports. 'My hope is that the players learn from it and spend time with what I'd call 'ruthless introspection' of how did they get here? And with the hope they turn it around. But it has to start and end with the players. It has much less to do with who their leader is.' That last point is debatable, given turmoil stemming from the damning revelations exposed by Pablo Torre on his podcast, "Pablo Torre Finds Out." Torre published a 61-page ruling from independent arbitrator Christopher Downey from a 2022 lawsuit filed by the NFLPA alleging collusion by team owners that was kept secret from the union. He revealed that another ruling determined Tretter encouraged players to fake injuries while engaged in contract talks. And he revealed that Howell was a part-time consultant for The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm approved by the NFL to invest in NFL teams, an apparent conflict of interest. Then ESPN reported that Howell's expense reports for visits to strip clubs ignited further scrutiny into his actions as union chief. Smith, citing a non-disparagement clause in his separation from the union, wouldn't specifically address the cases that blew up for the NFLPA, but he shared perspective on the role that White (the runner-up when Howell was elected) steps into on an interim basis while the search begins for a permanent executive director. White, formerly executive director and chief negotiator of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA), was elected by a vote of player representatives from all 32 teams on Aug. 3. Key issues for White? 'First of all, 2030 is not as far off as you'd want to think,' Smith said, alluding to the expiration of the 11-year collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and NFLPA. 'The changing media landscape is interesting. But I think the most pressing issue is how do you come in and take a group of players who haven't been in a fight and teach them about what a labor union is supposed to do.' When Smith replaced the late Gene Upshaw and began his 14-year tenure in 2009, surely there was no acclimation period. The fight was already on as NFL owners, on the short end of the last CBA that Upshaw negotiated, had already declared that it would opt out of the labor pact and lock out the players in 2011. 'It made teaching and the role of getting players ready for a war a little bit easier, because one was on the horizon,' Smith said. Ultimately, Smith led the NFLPA into two long labor pacts, the last one struck in 2020 during the pandemic, which was passed by players by a razor-thin margin, with the key pushback involving the 17th game the union agreed to. Now, the league is going full-steam ahead on desires to eventually expand the schedule to 18 games, which would need to be negotiated as part of the CBA – and perhaps before the current labor pact expires. That the NFLPA's leadership is in flux undoubtedly looms as an advantage for the NFL in ramping up for the next CBA. The current labor pact allows players to receive 48% of NFL revenues, which fuels the record $279.2 million salary cap for 2025. 'The biggest job for a labor leader is teaching, and how important it is to focus on the right issues,' Smith said. 'Understand you are in labor-management paradigm. That's always a battle.' Reflecting on his tenure – which included the COVID-19 crisis, the Colin Kaepernick-ignited player protests and the evolving concussion protocols – Smith said that one of his regrets is that he got away from the hard-core teaching that he stressed from 2009 to 2017. 'Now is that opportunity for players to go back to their roots,' said Smith, mindful of the turnover in membership that comes when the average player career span is roughly three years. He cites key figures from the timeline over several decades on the NFL front and beyond. 'Even the players who are not going to be there for 2030, if they don't know who Bill Radovich is, if they don't know who Freeman McNeil is, if they don't know who Reggie White was, if they don't understand the significance of Curt Flood or Oscar Robertson, man, you won't get it right. 'Whether the issues are Commissioner discipline, an 18th game or practice time, if players don't understand the history and necessity of fighting, you won't get it right.' Shortly after the resignations of Howell and Tretter, I reached out and asked Smith if he would consider returning to his former role on an interim basis to help the NFLPA navigate through its adversity. He scoffed. 'Absolutely not,' he said. 'This is a challenge the players need to resolve for themselves.' In his book, Smith recalls a frosty exchange with Howell during the transition. Smith said that he wrote a letter for his successor and planned to leave it in his old desk – in the tradition of U.S. presidents – but had second thoughts after his single interaction with Howell. He folded up the letter and stuffed it in his pocket. 'I wrote that letter in the hope that it would help frame what the job is, if someone were truly curious about getting it right,' Smith said last weekend. He wanted to be a resource. Especially having never met Upshaw, who died on Aug. 20, 2008, three days after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. 'There wasn't a day on the job where I didn't wake up and wish that I could talk to Gene,' Smith said. 'I kid you not. There wasn't a frickin' day.' He pledged that he's available for White. It's unclear how much White might tap that resource. Smith would certainly share thoughts about how players need to absorb how they are impacted by changing NFL business dynamics. The deal announced last week, with the NFL acquiring 10% equity in ESPN, resonated. 'It reminds you of the scale of this business,' Smith said. 'They're going to do what, $25 billion in revenue next year? This is the competition, and the ruthlessness of this business is far more intense off the field than it is on the field. And it's pretty intense on the field. 'You would want to know if there's a change in the rights fee (for ESPN),' he added. 'Those are the things the union needs to figure out. But most importantly, once you understand it, you're going to have to decide how do you fight it for your fair share? If anybody thinks that was just an idle, off-the-cuff comment from Roger (Goodell) – I forget when he said it, maybe a couple months ago – that he thought the players share was too high, you know that's what they do. They start messaging early.' Which means NFL players are pressed to reset their union priorities in a hurry and buckle up early for the next labor war that is surely coming. Contact Jarrett Bell at jbell@ or follow on social media: On X: @JarrettBell. On Bluesky:
Boston Globe
a day ago
- Boston Globe
Cambridge names three finalists for district superintendent Monday
Mayor Denise Simmons, who serves as School Committee chair, did not respond to requests for comment Monday. Cambridge has been without a permanent schools leader since May 2024, when the School Committee voted Related : Advertisement Murphy, an attorney who had been serving as the district's chief operations officer, was named the interim superintendent that June. None of the finalists immediately responded to a request for comment Monday afternoon. The district will hold listening sessions during the week of Aug. 20, and School Committee members will conduct site visits to the finalists' school districts the week of Sept. 15, according to a schedule posted by the district. There will also be opportunities to meet each of the finalists during the week of Sept. 22, according to the district. The School Committee will interview the finalists on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, and a vote to select the next superintendent is expected Oct. 6, according to the district. Advertisement Finalist interviews will be broadcast live and will be open to the public, the district said in its announcement. Public comment will not be included, it said. Cambridge's public school district is home to about 7,000 students, according to state data, and more diverse than the state as a whole. Black students make up more than one-fifth of the district, while Asian and Latino students each count for about 15 percent, the state reported. Around a tenth of Cambridge's students are multi-race, and roughly a third are white, state data showed. Students and Cambridge district staff represent more than 109 countries, 89 languages are spoken in the schools, and about 30 percent of students speak a first language other than English, according to an online description for the superintendent's job. The superintendent oversees a district with more than 2,000 employees, including educators, and a proposed budget of $280 million for fiscal 2026. Greer, the previous Cambridge superintendent, had Smith drew complaints from teachers and parents over her decision-making on issues like the assignments of some assistant teachers in classrooms and a police presence at the school. Cambridge Public Schools hired an outside law firm to review Smith's leadership of the school early in 2024, which determined the allegations against Smith were unsubstantiated. Greer was placed on paid leave until her final day in early August 2024. Greer, whose tenure as superintendent ended a year early, received more Advertisement Greer earned $260,000 in fiscal 2023, the first year of her three-year contract, which also included a 2.5 percent bump in pay in each of the remaining two years. 'I am saddened to leave,' Greer This is a developing story. Check back for updates. John Hilliard can be reached at
