Rick has been a member of the WFPL News team since 2001 and has covered numerous beats and events over the years. Most recently he’s been tracking the Indiana General Assembly and the region’s passion for sports, especially college basketball.
The chairman of an Indiana House committee says the panel won't vote on a bill that would end Indiana's longtime ban on Sunday retail alcohol sales.
House Public Policy Chairman Bill Davis says he's decided against holding a committee vote on the measure. Davis' decision means Indiana residents who want to buy carry-out alcohol on Sundays will have to wait at least another year.
Indiana remains at No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll despite losing a game last week, surviving a week of upsets to become the first team in over a month to hold onto the top ranking.
The Hoosiers lost to Illinois on a last-second basket Thursday but rebounded with a win at Ohio State on Sunday.
IU dropped to second place in the USA Today coaches poll, which gave the top spot to Duke.
The Louisville Cards and Notre Dame Fighting Irish battled for more than three-and-a-half hours in South Bend last night and this morning, with the Irish finally coming out on top 104-101 in five overtimes.
U of L was seemingly on its way to victory late in regulation, with a seven point lead and 42 seconds left to play, but Notre Dame came back to tie the game at 60.
The teams traded leads for five extra periods before the Irish pulled ahead for good. Five of the last six games between the teams have been decided in overtime.
The Louisville Cards return to the court Saturday night at Notre Dame.
Number 11 U of L is coming off a victory at Rutgers Wednesday. The Cards are now 19-4. This is their first matchup with the Fighting Irish since the semifinals of the Big East Tournament last March at Madison Square Garden. The Cards won that game.
Notre Dame is 18-4 and ranked 25th in the country. The Irish had a three-game winning streak broken Monday by Syracuse.
Tipoff at South Bend is at 9:00pm Saturday.
The Kentucky Wildcats host Auburn at 4:00pm Saturday.
Astronaut Kevin Ford is a native of Blackford County, Indiana and a graduate of the University of Notre Dame.
During a 20-minute chat with lawmakers and schoolchildren, Ford said dozens of experiments are being conducted aboard the space station, many of them medical tests involving the station’s zero-gravity environment.
Indiana lawmakers held a lengthy hearing today on a bill that would allow Sunday retail alcohol sales.
The measure before the House Public Policy Committee would broaden a state law that currently restricts Sunday sales to restaurants, bars, breweries and wineries.
John Elliott spoke on behalf of the Kroger Company and the Indiana Retail Council Board. He says customers are being inconvenienced, retailers are losing money and the state is missing out on tax revenue under the current law.
A proposal to amend Indiana’s constitution to guarantee residents the right to hunt, fish and farm has cleared a legislative committee.
The Senate Agriculture Committee voted 7-0 today to advance the measure, which now goes to the full Senate.
The proposal is sponsored by Republican Sen. Brent Steele, who says hunting and farming are being threatened by animal-rights activists and other groups.
The Louisville Waterfront Development Corporation says the long-awaited opening of the Big Four Bridge to pedestrians and bicyclists will be Thursday.
"Thursday at 11:00am we’re going to do what we’ve been calling the soft opening of the Big Four Bridge, meaning, since Indiana is not completed yet, everyone wants up on the bridge, so we’re going for it," said the agency's executive director, David Karem.
