Latest news with #Hoosiers'
NBC Sports
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- NBC Sports
Playing the All-Star Game at home creates special feeling for Kelsey Mitchell, Indiana Fever players
Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell spent last week tamping down the All-Star excitement. First, she had to play some crucial games. On Friday, she finally had a chance to show how she felt about playing Saturday's game on her home court. Mitchell's eyes opened wide, the trademark grin stretched across her face and the words started flying out of her mouth. 'I feel grateful,' she said. 'I feel happy that my family and friends are able to come. It's close for us because I'm from Cincinnati, so a lot of us get to connect, reconnect through basketball. It's just fun, it's a good experience and I'm grateful, I'm grateful I'm here.' Mitchell is making her third straight All-Star trip, this one just down the street from home, and is joined by two teammates — guard Caitlin Clark and center Aliyah Boston — for the second straight year. Nothing about this is routine, though. Indianapolis is the 13th city to host All-Star weekend, which was played primarily in the New York to Washington corridor during its first decade of existence and has moved West more recently. Last year's game was in Phoenix, and Las Vegas hosted three of the previous five and could be in the mix next summer, too. If things go as well Saturday as they did Thursday and Friday, perhaps Indianapolis will find itself in the regular rotation. Friday night's festivities drew an estimated 15,000 fans to the arena. 'The last time I did the 3-point shootout in Vegas, it didn't feel sold out,' 3-point champion Sabrina Ionescu. 'The last time (Stephen Curry) beat me when we were here in Indy. So really happy to be able to be here and put on a good show.' Most players in town such as Atlanta guard Allisha Gray know 'Hoosiers' both as the Indiana University nickname and as the popular movie title and appreciate playing in a state with so much basketball history. But not everyone has had the same hometown experience for home All-Star Games. 'Playing in front of home fans is definitely fun, though it brings in a mix of everything,' said four-time All-Star Kelsey Plum, who played six seasons with Las Vegas before joining Los Angeles this year. 'At the time, I was in Vegas (where) we had a lot of visitors in town, so it didn't feel super homey. It felt kind of like everyone was cheering for their person.' That's unlikely to be the case Saturday night. While Clark and Boston, the last two WNBA Rookies of the Year, possess more star power, Mitchell is revered locally for her scoring prowess, upbeat personality and resilience. The eight-year veteran finally got her first taste of playoff basketball last year, which explains why Clark expects Saturday to be an emotional game for Mitchell. But it's not just the hometowns with drawing power. Former Fever guard Erica Wheeler, now a teammate of 34-year-old Skylar Diggins in Seattle, drew a loud ovation when she was reintroduced during Friday's skills challenge. Diggins, a seven-time All-Star, was Indiana's 2009 Miss Basketball Award winner before leading her hometown Notre Dame Fighting Irish to three consecutive Final Four appearances, one in the very same fieldhouse hosting Saturday's game. 'It's always love when I come here,' Diggins said, calling Thursday's orange carpet presentation the best she's seen. 'The fans are amazing. This is a great host city. It makes sense that it's here and I'm happy because like I said, I get to see a lot of my family and friends, and I've already seen people around town that I haven't seen in years.' The Indianapolis experience already has others making pitches for their cities to play host. 'It'll be nice, but I feel like tonight we'll represented by a lot of Atlanta Dream fans, so I can't wait,' Gray said. 'The league needs to put its All-Star (Game) in Atlanta — soon.' Mitchell might endorse that idea, too, given that it would give her another chance to eat at Wheeler's restaurant in Atlanta. For now, though, Mitchell intends to savor this rare moment with her family, friends, teammates and, yes, even competitors. 'For us as people, it's an opportunity to connect on different levels and for us, I think, basketball is a way to do that,' Mitchell said. 'And I think it's fun for the city, I think it's fun for our families. It's just fun for the world, considering everything that's happening.'
Fox Sports
5 days ago
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Playing the All-Star Game at home creates special feeling for Kelsey Mitchell, Indiana Fever players
Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell spent last week tamping down the All-Star excitement. First, she had to play some crucial games. On Friday, she finally had a chance to show how she felt about playing Saturday's game on her home court. Mitchell's eyes opened wide, the trademark grin stretched across her face and the words started flying out of her mouth. 'I feel grateful,' she said. 'I feel happy that my family and friends are able to come. It's close for us because I'm from Cincinnati, so a lot of us get to connect, reconnect through basketball. It's just fun, it's a good experience and I'm grateful, I'm grateful I'm here.' Mitchell is making her third straight All-Star trip, this one just down the street from home, and is joined by two teammates — guard Caitlin Clark and center Aliyah Boston — for the second straight year. Nothing about this is routine, though. Indianapolis is the 13th city to host All-Star weekend, which was played primarily in the New York to Washington corridor during its first decade of existence and has moved West more recently. Last year's game was in Phoenix, and Las Vegas hosted three of the previous five and could be in the mix next summer, too. If things go as well Saturday as they did Thursday and Friday, perhaps Indianapolis will find itself in the regular rotation. Friday night's festivities drew an estimated 15,000 fans to the arena. 'The last time I did the 3-point shootout in Vegas, it didn't feel sold out,' 3-point champion Sabrina Ionescu. 'The last time (Stephen Curry) beat me when we were here in Indy. So really happy to be able to be here and put on a good show.' Most players in town such as Atlanta guard Allisha Gray know 'Hoosiers' both as the Indiana University nickname and as the popular movie title and appreciate playing in a state with so much basketball history. But not everyone has had the same hometown experience for home All-Star Games. 'Playing in front of home fans is definitely fun, though it brings in a mix of everything,' said four-time All-Star Kelsey Plum, who played six seasons with Las Vegas before joining Los Angeles this year. 'At the time, I was in Vegas (where) we had a lot of visitors in town, so it didn't feel super homey. It felt kind of like everyone was cheering for their person.' That's unlikely to be the case Saturday night. While Clark and Boston, the last two WNBA Rookies of the Year, possess more star power, Mitchell is revered locally for her scoring prowess, upbeat personality and resilience. The eight-year veteran finally got her first taste of playoff basketball last year, which explains why Clark expects Saturday to be an emotional game for Mitchell. But it's not just the hometowns with drawing power. Former Fever guard Erica Wheeler, now a teammate of 34-year-old Skylar Diggins in Seattle, drew a loud ovation when she was reintroduced during Friday's skills challenge. Diggins, a seven-time All-Star, was Indiana's 2009 Miss Basketball Award winner before leading her hometown Notre Dame Fighting Irish to three consecutive Final Four appearances, one in the very same fieldhouse hosting Saturday's game. 'It's always love when I come here," Diggins said, calling Thursday's orange carpet presentation the best she's seen. 'The fans are amazing. This is a great host city. It makes sense that it's here and I'm happy because like I said, I get to see a lot of my family and friends, and I've already seen people around town that I haven't seen in years.' The Indianapolis experience already has others making pitches for their cities to play host. 'It'll be nice, but I feel like tonight we'll represented by a lot of Atlanta Dream fans, so I can't wait,' Gray said. 'The league needs to put its All-Star (Game) in Atlanta — soon.' Mitchell might endorse that idea, too, given that it would give her another chance to eat at Wheeler's restaurant in Atlanta. For now, though, Mitchell intends to savor this rare moment with her family, friends, teammates and, yes, even competitors. 'For us as people, it's an opportunity to connect on different levels and for us, I think, basketball is a way to do that," Mitchell said. 'And I think it's fun for the city, I think it's fun for our families. It's just fun for the world, considering everything that's happening.' ___ AP WNBA: recommended Item 1 of 1
Winnipeg Free Press
5 days ago
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
Playing the All-Star Game at home creates special feeling for Kelsey Mitchell, Indiana Fever players
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell spent last week tamping down the All-Star excitement. First, she had to play some crucial games. On Friday, she finally had a chance to show how she felt about playing Saturday's game on her home court. Mitchell's eyes opened wide, the trademark grin stretched across her face and the words started flying out of her mouth. 'I feel grateful,' she said. 'I feel happy that my family and friends are able to come. It's close for us because I'm from Cincinnati, so a lot of us get to connect, reconnect through basketball. It's just fun, it's a good experience and I'm grateful, I'm grateful I'm here.' Mitchell is making her third straight All-Star trip, this one just down the street from home, and is joined by two teammates — guard Caitlin Clark and center Aliyah Boston — for the second straight year. Nothing about this is routine, though. Indianapolis is the 13th city to host All-Star weekend, which was played primarily in the New York to Washington corridor during its first decade of existence and has moved West more recently. Last year's game was in Phoenix, and Las Vegas hosted three of the previous five and could be in the mix next summer, too. If things go as well Saturday as they did Thursday and Friday, perhaps Indianapolis will find itself in the regular rotation. Friday night's festivities drew an estimated 15,000 fans to the arena. 'The last time I did the 3-point shootout in Vegas, it didn't feel sold out,' 3-point champion Sabrina Ionescu. 'The last time (Stephen Curry) beat me when we were here in Indy. So really happy to be able to be here and put on a good show.' Most players in town such as Atlanta guard Allisha Gray know 'Hoosiers' both as the Indiana University nickname and as the popular movie title and appreciate playing in a state with so much basketball history. But not everyone has had the same hometown experience for home All-Star Games. 'Playing in front of home fans is definitely fun, though it brings in a mix of everything,' said four-time All-Star Kelsey Plum, who played six seasons with Las Vegas before joining Los Angeles this year. 'At the time, I was in Vegas (where) we had a lot of visitors in town, so it didn't feel super homey. It felt kind of like everyone was cheering for their person.' That's unlikely to be the case Saturday night. While Clark and Boston, the last two WNBA Rookies of the Year, possess more star power, Mitchell is revered locally for her scoring prowess, upbeat personality and resilience. The eight-year veteran finally got her first taste of playoff basketball last year, which explains why Clark expects Saturday to be an emotional game for Mitchell. But it's not just the hometowns with drawing power. Former Fever guard Erica Wheeler, now a teammate of 34-year-old Skylar Diggins in Seattle, drew a loud ovation when she was reintroduced during Friday's skills challenge. Diggins, a seven-time All-Star, was Indiana's 2009 Miss Basketball Award winner before leading her hometown Notre Dame Fighting Irish to three consecutive Final Four appearances, one in the very same fieldhouse hosting Saturday's game. 'It's always love when I come here,' Diggins said, calling Thursday's orange carpet presentation the best she's seen. 'The fans are amazing. This is a great host city. It makes sense that it's here and I'm happy because like I said, I get to see a lot of my family and friends, and I've already seen people around town that I haven't seen in years.' The Indianapolis experience already has others making pitches for their cities to play host. 'It'll be nice, but I feel like tonight we'll represented by a lot of Atlanta Dream fans, so I can't wait,' Gray said. 'The league needs to put its All-Star (Game) in Atlanta — soon.' Mitchell might endorse that idea, too, given that it would give her another chance to eat at Wheeler's restaurant in Atlanta. For now, though, Mitchell intends to savor this rare moment with her family, friends, teammates and, yes, even competitors. 'For us as people, it's an opportunity to connect on different levels and for us, I think, basketball is a way to do that,' Mitchell said. 'And I think it's fun for the city, I think it's fun for our families. It's just fun for the world, considering everything that's happening.' ___ AP WNBA:
Hamilton Spectator
5 days ago
- Sport
- Hamilton Spectator
Playing the All-Star Game at home creates special feeling for Kelsey Mitchell, Indiana Fever players
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell spent last week tamping down the All-Star excitement. First, she had to play some crucial games. On Friday, she finally had a chance to show how she felt about playing Saturday's game on her home court. Mitchell's eyes opened wide, the trademark grin stretched across her face and the words started flying out of her mouth. 'I feel grateful,' she said. 'I feel happy that my family and friends are able to come. It's close for us because I'm from Cincinnati, so a lot of us get to connect, reconnect through basketball. It's just fun, it's a good experience and I'm grateful, I'm grateful I'm here.' Mitchell is making her third straight All-Star trip, this one just down the street from home, and is joined by two teammates — guard Caitlin Clark and center Aliyah Boston — for the second straight year. Nothing about this is routine, though. Indianapolis is the 13th city to host All-Star weekend, which was played primarily in the New York to Washington corridor during its first decade of existence and has moved West more recently. Last year's game was in Phoenix, and Las Vegas hosted three of the previous five and could be in the mix next summer, too. If things go as well Saturday as they did Thursday and Friday, perhaps Indianapolis will find itself in the regular rotation. Friday night's festivities drew an estimated 15,000 fans to the arena. 'The last time I did the 3-point shootout in Vegas, it didn't feel sold out,' 3-point champion Sabrina Ionescu. 'The last time (Stephen Curry) beat me when we were here in Indy. So really happy to be able to be here and put on a good show.' Most players in town such as Atlanta guard Allisha Gray know 'Hoosiers' both as the Indiana University nickname and as the popular movie title and appreciate playing in a state with so much basketball history. But not everyone has had the same hometown experience for home All-Star Games. 'Playing in front of home fans is definitely fun, though it brings in a mix of everything,' said four-time All-Star Kelsey Plum, who played six seasons with Las Vegas before joining Los Angeles this year. 'At the time, I was in Vegas (where) we had a lot of visitors in town, so it didn't feel super homey. It felt kind of like everyone was cheering for their person.' That's unlikely to be the case Saturday night. While Clark and Boston, the last two WNBA Rookies of the Year, possess more star power, Mitchell is revered locally for her scoring prowess, upbeat personality and resilience. The eight-year veteran finally got her first taste of playoff basketball last year, which explains why Clark expects Saturday to be an emotional game for Mitchell. But it's not just the hometowns with drawing power. Former Fever guard Erica Wheeler, now a teammate of 34-year-old Skylar Diggins in Seattle, drew a loud ovation when she was reintroduced during Friday's skills challenge. Diggins, a seven-time All-Star, was Indiana's 2009 Miss Basketball Award winner before leading her hometown Notre Dame Fighting Irish to three consecutive Final Four appearances, one in the very same fieldhouse hosting Saturday's game. 'It's always love when I come here,' Diggins said, calling Thursday's orange carpet presentation the best she's seen. 'The fans are amazing. This is a great host city. It makes sense that it's here and I'm happy because like I said, I get to see a lot of my family and friends, and I've already seen people around town that I haven't seen in years.' The Indianapolis experience already has others making pitches for their cities to play host. 'It'll be nice, but I feel like tonight we'll represented by a lot of Atlanta Dream fans, so I can't wait,' Gray said. 'The league needs to put its All-Star (Game) in Atlanta — soon.' Mitchell might endorse that idea, too, given that it would give her another chance to eat at Wheeler's restaurant in Atlanta. For now, though, Mitchell intends to savor this rare moment with her family, friends, teammates and, yes, even competitors. 'For us as people, it's an opportunity to connect on different levels and for us, I think, basketball is a way to do that,' Mitchell said. 'And I think it's fun for the city, I think it's fun for our families. It's just fun for the world, considering everything that's happening.' ___ AP WNBA:
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New era of government transparency? Indiana's public access counselor tackles backlog
When Hoosiers have questions about whether their public officials are following the state's public records and open meeting laws, they can turn to Indiana's public access counselor to investigate the situation on their behalf. However, that nonpartisan state agency has been engulfed in a period of transition following a state law limiting its scope. That change caused staff and institutional knowledge to drain out of the office, and Hoosiers' questions were largely left unanswered in the meantime. Now, with Gov. Mike Braun's selection of Jennifer Ruby as Indiana's next public access counselor, the office is poised to regain stability a year after the law took effect and following 16 months of understaffing. Ruby told IndyStar she is making progress rebuilding her staff, updating guidance and responding to the backlog of constituent questions. "Anytime you have a goal that's really hard and a long way away, you've just got to try to keep focusing on what your end goal is," she said. "And my end goal is to get this office in better shape." Braun has repeatedly said government transparency and constituent services will be two important pillars of his administration — and are both why the public access counselor was created. 'Transparency is essential and the PAC plays a big role in making sure our state government is providing that transparency," the governor's spokesperson, Griffin Reid, told IndyStar in a statement. Those who rely on the office will be watching closely to see how long it takes the office to get caught up and how constrained Ruby is by the changes to the law. The public access counselor is responsible for both educating officials about the public's right to information and answering Hoosiers' questions about the state's public access law. "Government, especially at the local level, can be confusing to folks who are new to engaging with their local officials," said Luke Britt, the previous public access counselor. "Access and engagement go hand in hand, and so just being there as a resource was my number one priority." Members of the public, journalists and government employees can ask Ruby's office questions about how to interpret the state's Access to Public Records Act and the Open Door Law, also known as sunshine laws. People can also submit complaints to the public access counselor if they feel there is a potential that those laws were violated. The office will then engage in an investigatory process that culminates in an advisory opinion interpreting how the state's laws apply to specific situations. All advisory opinions are published on the public access counselor's website. The state legislature curtailed the public access counselor's powers in 2023, so the office could only consider two sources — Indiana's public access law "as plainly written" and court opinions — when deciding on public complaints. Lawmakers disagreed with how Britt, the previous counselor, was interpreting the law. Amendment author Sen. Aaron Freeman, R-Indianapolis, said at the time that Britt had "some very liberal interpretations of the statute." They especially drew issue with Britt's opinion that Hamilton East Public Library board members violated the Open Door Law amidst a high-profile reshuffling in response to a controversial book relocation policy. "Once that legislation took place ... if it was a complaint about a subjective area of the law or an ambiguity, all I could do was make a rote recitation of the law, and I don't think that's necessarily helpful," Britt said. Ruby said she is navigating what the office will look like under the new law and how to weigh the need for transparency with the letter of the law. "There is going to be a balance because we're supposed to broadly interpret so that there's openness and transparency," Ruby said. "There's going to be some learning here as far as what works and what doesn't." Another question is whether the thousands of prior opinions, which date back to when the office was created in 1999, can be used as precedent. If a court used a counselor's opinion to make a ruling, she said, that advisory opinion has legal standing. Where there isn't case law, she said, she'll have to evaluate whether previous opinions still stand and if she can come to the same conclusion using the plain text or other court cases. "There's a lot of times that you're building something or you're reviewing something legally and you can come at it from a different direction, you can still come to the same conclusion," she said. On whether her office will become ensnared in political tensions as it had in the past, Ruby said she'll rely on her background as a mediator to work through and discuss her decisions. Everything must stem back to something in Indiana code or case law, which she said provides evidence that the office is not engaging in partisan politics. "The law will potentially tick off one side or the other," she said. "But if I'm following the law, they're going to understand exactly why I made the decision that I made." Zachary Baiel, president of the Indiana Coalition for Open Government, is among Hoosiers who have expressed frustrations about the time it takes to hear back from the office. Still, Baiel is giving the Braun administration the benefit of the doubt since his term is still young and it took the time to find a person suited for the job. Government moves slowly, he said, which means staffing vacancies take longer to fill, and thus, longer to remedy issues. For people who have sent questions or complaints to her office and haven't heard back, Ruby said her office is working chronologically unless there is an emerging legal case that would need to jump the queue. "We will get to you when we can," she said. The office was understaffed for about 16 months and without an official leader since February. Ruby was working through requests alone until a paralegal joined her staff last week. The hardest part so far, she said, is dealing with the office's negative perception that's developed as people wait for answers. "The thing I like the least is letting people down," she said. "I know this office needs to be more actively engaged with the public, and it's hard to do that when there's only one of you." She said she is working to close out complaints filed in December, January and February. Notices will begin to go out for complaints filed in March and April. She plans to write her first advisory opinion "very soon." By the end of September, Ruby said, she hopes her office will have made a large dent in the backlog. And by the end of the year, she's optimistic that the office will be up to date. This year has been busier than last. She said there are at least 95 complaints filed so far this year, compared to about 88 that Britt responded to in all of 2024. "I think we're going to have a lot more this year to get through," she said. "We're going to have plenty of work to do." Britt was Indiana's longest-serving public access counselor and gained name recognition for his public education and accessibility. He announced he was stepping down in February after undefined. "If folks have that resource they can go to just for general questions about government or government transparency, that's a good thing," he said. "I always took that counselor word in the title quite literally." Ruby said she has similar motivations. She emphasized it was important to her to return to public service after 20 years running her estate and succession planning practice. She missed knowing she's helping people each day she works, she said. In her 15 years working in state and local government, Ruby often interacted with public access law. She worked in strategic planning, litigation and policy roles at the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, New Mexico Environment Department and the city of Indianapolis. She's fulfilled records requests, ensured public meeting rules were followed and interpreted what could be discussed in private executive sessions. "I've dealt with (public access laws) in those ways," she said. "This (job) is just a lot deeper into that." The legislature made the public access counselor's job more difficult by limiting their ability to interpret statutes that are often broad, Baiel said. He is especially curious to see Ruby's first advisory opinion, which he believes will tell more about how she approaches open access laws. "That's the proof of any public access counselor," he said. "They all have different writing styles. They all have different sympathies. ... So what's Jennifer's (first opinion) going to look like, especially in light of the changes at the Indiana code level?" Ruby's goal is to begin conducting regular trainings so members of the public can better understand their rights in plain language. She said education is a critical role of her office and one she intends to more intensely pursue when they make it through the backlog. "We've been so underwater that we're just not there yet," she said. The USA TODAY Network - Indiana's coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. Have a story to tell? Reach Cate Charron by email at ccharron@ or message her on Signal at @ This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana's new public access counselor tackles backlog
