Local Headlines News: July 13, 2021

Purdue Alumni up in space
Purdue University Alumni Sirisha Bandla and Beth Moses were part of last Sunday’s Virgin Galactic space flight. 70 year-old Sir Richard Branson, was the mission specialist for this fourth crewed spaceflight for the VSS Unity spacecraft, which was launched from the Eve mothership at an altitude of 50,000 feet around 11am on Sunday morning. Branson is evaluating the experience so the Galactic can better prepare for future non-astronaut customers. Moses, the company’s Chief Astronaut Instructor, will serve as cabin lead and test director in space, overseeing the safe and efficient execution of the test flight objectives; while, Bandla will be evaluating the human-tended research experience, using an experiment from the University of Florida.

16 IU Hoosiers prepared to make a splash at the Olympic in Tokyo
14 Indiana University Students and 2 Coaches will be competing in this year’s Olympic Games:

Bailey Andison, Class of 2019:                                      200-meter individual medley

Zach Apple, Class of 2019:                                             100-meter freestyle, 400-meter freestyle relay, 800-meter freestyle relay

Michael Brinegar, Class of 2023:                                800-meter freestyle, 1,500-meter freestyle

Andrew Capobianco, Class of 2022:                          3-meter springboard and 3-meter synchronized springboard diving

Marwan Elkamash, Class of 2017:                              400-meter freestyle and 800-meter freestyle

Tomer Frankel, Class of 2025:                                      100-meter butterfly

Jessica Gaudreault, Class of 2018:                             Water polo

Michael Hixon, Class of 2018:                                      3-meter synchronized springboard diving

Lilly King, Class of 2019:                                                 100-meter breaststroke, 200-meter breaststroke

Vini Lanza, Class: 2019 graduate:               200-meter individual medley, 100-meter butterfly, possibly relays

Shae (Fournier) LaRoche, Class of 2014:                  Water polo

Jessica Parratto, Class of 2019:                                   10-meter synchronized platform diving

Blake Pieroni, Class of 2018:                                        400-meter freestyle relay

Gabi Rennie, Class of 2025:                                          Women’s soccer

Drew Johansen, Head coach of U.S. Olympic diving team

Ray Looze, Assistant coach of U.S. Olympic swimming team

Wanted man TASED by Bedfor Officer
Bedford Police deployed a TASER last week on a man wanted on a warrant, who was fleeing from Law Enforcement Officers. 39 year-old Robert Philpott, who had an active warrant for failure to appear, ran from Police into a wooded area near the 300 block of Oolitic Road last Thursday. During the pursuit, Philpott reached behind his back, and an Officer deployed his TASER. A Paramedic later removed the barbs, and Philpott was booked into Lawrence County Jail for the warrant and a new charge of resisting law enforcement.