Steakhouse dining chains have faced a challenging year of rising beef prices, which increased by 9.4% year-over-year in July 2026, making it harder for many restaurants to maintain profitable businesses and keep their doors open.
Among the restaurant chains implementing plans to improve their business performance is Bloomin' Brands' Outback Steakhouse, which has closed locations that no longer make economic sense to operate.
Outback Steakhouse is closing two more of its restaurants about 10 months after the chain's owner Bloomin' Brands launched a multi-year turnaround strategy that will eliminate locations that lack the potential for growth.
The 38-year-old steakhouse chain abruptly closed its Evansville, Wyo., location on Aug. 23, 2026, and posted a farewell note on its front door.
"G'Day Casper/Evansville: Outback Steakhouse is now closed. Thank you for all your support over the last 21 years. It has been a pleasure working with so many great, local Outbackers over the years. To all the fond memories!!! Cheers, The Outback Team," the note stated.

#closed

This slate of high school football games has the potential to be much stronger.
Week 4 across Southwestern Indiana brings a top-five battle in Class 3A at the Reitz Bowl between No. 1 Memorial and No. 4 Mater Dei. 4A No. 9 Reitz also looks to keep pace in the Southern Indiana Athletic Conference **** le race with a trip to North. The highlights elsewhere? 2A No. 7 North Posey at Tell City in a matchup of unbeatens. Heritage Hills at Southridge in a key Big School Division game. We also get SIAC vs. PAC with Boonville at Central.
More: Who wins the top Week 4 high school football games across Southwestern Indiana?
Below is the schedule for Friday's games around the Evansville area, plus links to online radio broadcasts and video streams where applicable.
Follow below for LIVE scores and updates from all the week 4 IHSAA football action across the Evansville area!

#week #north #evansville

Stillman Valley High School has announced the Athletic/Activities Hall of Fame Class of 2026, recognizing a coach, former student-athletes, community supporters and championship teams for their achievements and contributions to Cardinal programs.
The inductees will be honored as part of Homecoming festivities Sept. 25, according to a community announcement. The class includes girls basketball coach Bobby Mellon, former student-athletes Michelle ******* er Rogers and Dan Godfread, Friends of Athletics honorees James and Russ Elliot, the 2002-03 Scholastic Bowl Team and the 1989-90 Chess Team.
Mellon has led the Stillman Valley girls basketball program since 2010 and has compiled a 252-105 varsity record. During his tenure, the Cardinals won five regional ******* les, two sectional championships and a Big Northern Conference championship. Mellon also has earned Illinois Basketball Coaches ******* ociation District Coach of the Year honors five times.
Fager Rogers, a member of the Class of 1996, competed in volleyball, basketball and track and field. She helped two girls basketball teams qualify for the state tournament and qualified for the IHSA State Track Meet in the hurdles. Her honors included Girls Track MVP and SVHS Female Athlete of the Year.
Godfread, a graduate from the Class of 1985, became one of the school's most accomplished basketball players before continuing his career at the University of Evansville. He finished his collegiate career with 1,386 points, 737 rebounds and 226 blocked shots while earning first-team all-conference recognition.

#Basketball #mellon #team #stillman

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) — The University of Southern Indiana women's volleyball managed to steal one set away in their 3-1 loss against the 21st ranked Indiana Hoosiers Monday afternoon.
Screaming Eagles head coach Jeffrey Aucoin said he hopes his team can build upon the winning set and take it with them through the rest of the season.
"We were a little bit more aggressive," he said. "You know we were just missing in the first set I think set two things started to go our way. We're we're getting back into our rhythm and we're just trying to build momentum. It's easy in these types of matches to put pressure on being perfect and dominating and want to prove everybody something, but, it's really important that you just put pressure on creating opportunities. And I think that's what we did in that second set and we took advantage of those opportunities to finish out the set."
Next, Southern Indiana will head to Columbus, Ohio to compete in the Sports Import Classic starting with Youngstown State on Friday, September 11th.
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Eyewitness News (WEHT/WTVW).

#think

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) — After counting up 1,400 total votes, Memorial's Dru Ellis was named our Week one Home Team Friday MVP of the night.
The junior running back rushed for 80 yards on four carries for three touchdowns. While also having three catches for 36 years and another score and an interception on defense. Ellis made the most of his time on the field for the Tigers in their 48-14 win over Jasper. He secured 84.7 percent of the votes to claim MVP.
"Oh, it's awesome knowing that I have everybody behind me, everybody voting for me," he said. "It just feels good knowing that everybody is there. Knowing that I can take it after my brother, definitely had a lot of players in the past years that I've got to work around and work with. So they definitely helped me and trained me for this moment right here."
Ellis and Memorial will travel to North to face the Huskies on Friday, August 28th.
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Eyewitness News (WEHT/WTVW).

#ellis #three

EVANSVILLE — Chaos. How else can you describe that ending at Bundrant Stadium?
Castle football came away with a 29-26 win against North on August 21 to start its season on the right note. Leading the way was quarterback Sawyer Winsett and wide receiver Jaivon Aunspach. The pair connected for all four of the Knights' touchdowns.
The performance was special, and it was coming. Just ask Aunspach.
More: Memorial football sets a positive tone with dominant Week 1 victory over Jasper
More: Updates, scores from week 1 Southwestern Indiana football games

#aunspach #bundrant

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) — While the University of Evansville women's volleyball coach, Zach Weinberg wants to continue to build the foundation of his culture he also wants to compete in year two with the Purple Aces.
UE welcomes a class of five new-comers this season including four freshman and one transfer.
After a (6-22) season in his first year at the helm of the program he said he focused on adding players with a lot of success to the group to bring a more competitive edge.
"We don't set out every single match to say alright, we're playing today let's go win," Coach Weinber said. "We set out to compete and the wins are a byproduct of that. But we feel like we're in a better position this year to win more matches. Our squad is deeper than it was a year ago, so for us it's about being more competitive more of the time and seeing those results translate to the court."
Despite losing some star players from a season ago and accepting that there will be hiccups this year his team echoed the sentiment about wanting to play at a higher level this upcoming season.

#season #compete #players #competitive

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) — With 12 returners on the roster, the University of Southern Indiana women's volleyball team has been able to speed up the learning curve during offseason workouts.
Last year, the Screaming Eagles went into the season with eight new players, but this year it's just three new faces on the roster.
USI was just two sets away from playing for the Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship last season, so the continuity should help the team once again battle for a top spot in the conference.
"We can already tell like this preseason we've all been gelling really well and it's kind of like we weren't even apart for very long," said outside hitter, Ashby Willis. "It's been really great coming back and having some good team chemistry again that we worked on in the spring."
Even though there will be some players stepping into new roles the big returning group already has the team ahead of schedule this year utilizing the spring period.

#team #year #conference #roster

The Peoria Rivermen settled on a new equipment manager and on a new 2026-27 home opener Monday.
The defending regular-season champions hired Kyle Harden as equipment manager.
The 29-year-old Memphis, Tennessee native spent the last three seasons as equipment manager for Huntsville, one of the top organizations in the SPHL.
He worked in the equipment role at Evansville in the SPHL in the 2021-22 season, and before that served as equipment manager in junior hockey with NAHL Amarillo.
"I'm very excited. Peoria is a great organization, been around for a long time," Harden said. "They were in the SPHL Finals last year, they have the right culture and the right people. I just want to get there and help the guys be comfortable, help them win."

#peoria #last

The high school girls' golf season has teed off. Batesville was the first local program to start the season.
The Lady Bulldogs traveled to the 15-team Bloomington South Invitational at Stone Crest Golf Course. Batesville posted a team score of 337 to place fourth overall.
Center Grove won the team ******* le with a 301 followed by Castle 306, Floyd Central 324, Batesville 337, New Albany 350, Bedford North Lawrence 350, Washington 366, Southport 379, Bloomington South 381, Seymour 391, Mt. Vernon 396, Evansville Memorial 413, Columbus East 417, Madison 419 and Clay City 479.
Batesville sophomore Stella Maple carded an even-par round of 71 to place second individually.
Alexis Gallagher was next for Batesville with 78. Grace Saner finished with 92. Adelyne Koehne had a 96 and Makenna Moore completed her round with 118.

#bloomington

EVANSVILLE — How about that for a start to the Romain Cadillac Evansville City Tournament?
The opening weekend of the 97th edition didn't disappoint. A lot of low numbers (including a new individual round record) and a lot of interesting storylines heading into the final rounds at Rolling Hills and Evansville Country Club. The final tally is only 13 players under par, and the cutline rose to 5-over.
Sunday at Helfrich wasn't as frenetic as the previous day at Fendrich. The course had some bite, courtesy of morning rain and afternoon wind. Still leaves the tournament in a fun spot at the midway point, with what we learned from the first two rounds before heading to Newburgh next weekend.
More: Evansville Christian School graduate awarded $50K Dan Scism Scholarship
There was no bigger winner this weekend than Caleb Wassmer.

#evansville #final #romain

Heading into year seven, Southern Indiana coach Stan Gouard knows things must be different in 2026-27.
The Screaming Eagles won just seven games last season and lost numerous players to the transfer portal. Things need to change, and there was one word that highlighted Gouard's stance on his new group compared to last season's.
Unity.
More: Evansville vs Southern Indiana men's basketball game set for November
"I think it's very important that we develop some type of team camaraderie this summer," Gouard said. "I don't think we did enough of that (last year). That's why you saw the results you saw."

EVANSVILLE — One of the oldest baseball stadiums in the country will undergo a major change.
Bosse Field was approved to receive synthetic playing field turf by the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. during its board meeting on Monday, July 6. Along with an update to the drainage system which flows into Garvin Lake, the cost of the project was set at $2,136,856 with RiverTown Construction being awarded the bid.
More: Mater Dei standout headlines 2026 Courier & Press All-Metro Baseball Team
EVSC director of communication Jason Woebkenberg said work is scheduled to start following the Evansville Otters' season. That earliest possible date is October.
"This is going to create more opportunities for our high school athletes to play on that field," Woebkenberg said. "We're going to lose fewer games to rainouts when we have rainy springs. We're very fortunate in this community to have such a historic venue like Bosse Field. When you have a historic venue, you have to invest in it."

Jun. 25—CHAMPAIGN — Illinois forward Ben Humrichous signed an Exhibition 10 contract with the Brooklyn Nets late Wednesday night following the 2026 NBA Draft. Jon Chepkevich, of Draft Express, was first to report.
Humrichous went undrafted, but with the Exhibit 10 deal will now get at least a shot at the NBA. First up? Likely a Summer League run with the Nets for the 6-foot-9 forward.
An Exhibit 10 contract is a non-guaranteed minimum salary deal that includes a training camp invite. The agreement can then either be guaranteed or converted to a two-way contract before the regular season starts. Teams can waive a player on an Exhibit 10 contract at any time without a salary cap hit.
Humrichous' path to a potential NBA landing spot is unique. The Tipton, Ind., native started his college career at NAIA Huntington University before a one-year stop at Evansville led him to Illinois. He played two seasons for the Illini, turning into a valuable role player during the team's Final Four run this past season.
Humrichous averaged 5.8 points and 3.9 rebounds in his final season at Illinois while shooting 36 percent from three-point range. He was a solid team defender with a penchant for sneaky blocked shots and posted one of the the Illini's highest offensive ratings during their 28-9 campaign.

The Washington Catholic Cardinals made a big announcement on Thursday in the Birdcage, naming Alex Hemenway the new athletic director and boys basketball coach.
Hemenway replaces Peyton Catt and interim coach Brock Craney. He will be the third new coach in the last three seasons, as WC has gone 0-44 in the last two years under former coaches Billy Nolley and Catt, while the Cardinals have been 5-121 since 2020-21. Craney was named interim coach about a month ago.
Hemenway was a major part of some very good Castle teams in high school and then played at Clemson out of high school, then joined Vanderbilt for the 2024-25 season and finished out back home at U of E during college last season.
During his 127 college games, he averaged 5.7 points and was a 39% 3-point shooter in his career, getting 6.8 points in his last year at Evansville.

NEWBURGH — Lily Greenwell had zero clue on the location of the softball.
Her first instinct, and the correct one, was to sprint out of the batter's box on contact. Not even as Greenwell burned past second base did it occur that the ball was sitting 15 feet beyond the right field wall at Lockyear Field. It took seeing her teammates spill out of the dugout for everything to finally click.
That swing won the Class 4A regional championship.
More: Six Evansville-area baseball teams win IHSAA sectional championships
No. 13 Castle defeated Seymour 5-4 on Tuesday, June 2, to earn its seventh regional ******* le in program history. This one, highlighted by Greenwell's walk-off bomb, will be towards the top of the list.