JASON CLARK / COURIER & PRESS Grave Digger driver Charlie Pauken holds up Braxton Wiley, 4, as they pose for a photo before the start of Monster Jam at the Ford Center in Evansville Friday. Wiley was treated to a special meet and greet with drivers thanks to the help of Wish Upon a Star and Monster Jam.

A transgender male stood in front of a packed City Council meeting Monday night and asked for the chance to be himself. Skylar Julian, 17, was one of many community members in attendance to comment on an amendment to the city’s human rights ordinance. There were more than 20 public commentators and the room’s 84-seat capacity caused the crowd to overflow into the hall of the Civic Center.

More than 20 years ago, Patricia Shipp's son Tony planted a Blue Spruce in her front yard. Shipp said when she looked at the tree, she remembered the conversation she had with Tony when he first planted it. "I would say to him 'son, I'll never live to see that tree grow above my house,'" she said.

As the holiday season approaches, the awareness for community members in need rises. The men’s soccer team, however, is aware of this need all year round as they serve meals at the Evansville Rescue Mission on the first Wednesday of every month. The only months where the team can’t always participate are June and July when so many team members return to their hometowns.

Carl Mann remembers belly-crawling up the Normandy beach on D-Day as bullets whizzed past his head and between his fingers. "It was a pretty tough day," the 92-year-old World War II veteran said of June 6, 1944. "The Germans were waiting for us and it was quite a slaughter." Not long ago, Mann couldn't talk about his experience.

Heather Platt spent three years as a runner at USI before she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. “As amazing as my running career was, it ended very abruptly and really quickly,” she said. “Yes, I accomplished a lot, but I never got a degree.”. Now, she will be inducted into the USI Athletic Hall of Fame as part of the 2016 class by a nine-member committee.

Makia, Lovie and Lou spend most of their days being bathed and pampered. The three "retired" female African elephants participated in many activities associated with elephants in captivity while growing up. They performed in the circus, marched in parades and attended state fairs. The three also found their way into documentaries and weddings.

Maxwell Hedon said his main goal is to get every eligible person registered to vote. "In addition to getting them registered, getting them to exercise that right," he said. "Being registered and not voting isn't helping anything." Hedon and Samantha Buente hosted a voter registration picnic Sunday at the Four Freedoms Monument.

For Rachel Johnson, the hardest part of twirling isn’t the tricks or skills. It’s the loneliness. From age six to 17, she practically lived in a gym between training with her mother and her coach. “It was just really lonely,” Johnson said. “I think that as a child, you’re looking to build relationships with your peers and it’s not something that everyone can deal with.”.

Emily McAtee toured Bataclan Hall in Paris on Thursday, describing it as "magical." The next day, that magical theater would turn into a graveyard. Officials say more than 100 people were executed inside the historic concert venue on Friday night — part of a series of shootings and bombings that French authorities say killed dozens more.

The dance team struggled with unity at the beginning of the year. “It’s a very young team. We have a lot of new members this year,” Jennifer Guebert said. “They are each individually very talented, but the goal is to get them to all look like one unit.”. More than half of this year’s dance team consists of new members.

With a birthday so close to Christmas, 7-year-old Haven Buck often doesn't know what to ask for. This year, after learning about the needs of people in the community, she asked for donations to the Evansville Rescue Mission. Buck brought the idea to her mother, who said she was shocked because she never expected something like that from her 7-year-old.