IS IT TRUE NOVEMBER 8, 2017

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We hope that todays “IS IT TRUE” will provoke honest and open dialogue concerning issues that we, as responsible citizens of this community, need to address in a rational and responsible way?”

IS IT TRUE that Evansville, Indiana had another bizarre weekend when it comes to gun violence which wasn’t much of a problem 30 years ago but seems to have risen to epidemic proportion in recent years?…there were two shootings very near downtown Evansville in the 700 block of Monroe on Thursday night to get the weekend going?…then to keep the Devil’s Night spirit going a Jimtown bicycle rider shot a random person in the same area where a double shooting occurred last week?…we are not sure if the bicycle riding shooter was on the new $18M bike path or not but Jimtown is still Jimtown in spite of a large amount of taxpayer dollars being sunk into amenities more appreciated by the martini on the roof crowd of beautiful people?…finally to top it all off a pizza delivery guy was making a delivery in the 1300 block of Marshall Avenue not far from the Benjamin Bosse High School when someone pulled a gun on him and demanded all of his money?…the robber reportedly made off with a whopping $13 and hasn’t been seen since?…it is highly likely that this epidemic of gun violence in Evansville is related to the record drug overdoses that we are experiencing in 2017?

 IS IT TRUE that the State of Indiana is coming down on the Vanderburgh County Commissioners and the Vanderburgh County Council for having too many people in the relatively new jail on the north side?…our elected officials are not only under scrutiny for ridiculous levels of overcrowding but they are getting outed for not even having a plan with respect to fixing the problems?…the problems are of course driven by having a minimum of 20% overcrowding for the capacity the jail was meant to house?…there are not even enough beds for every prisoner to have one and there are only enough toilets to make it a requirement that 12 prisoners must share a toilet?…the same goes for showers as there is a shower shortage of the same magnitude?…understaffing is at critical levels and there is no current plan in site to fix the problem?…all of this would fix itself if the general population of  Vanderburgh County would learn to behave in a civil manner and avoid breaking laws?…we don’t know if there is crime crystals in the water, a lifestyle that is so oppressive that people are driven to the brink, or if the parenting skills are so catastrophically bad that we are raising criminals but something has got to be done?
IS IT TRUE that part of the solution to the jail problem may be with the Evansville City Council raising everyone’s income taxes by 20% to raise some money to help with the jail?…the City Council seems willing to take all the heat for the county council that won’t even have a public discussion about raising taxes to bring the jail into compliance with basic human conditions?
IS IT TRUE if the powers that be would had listened to former County Commissioner Dave Mosby pleas to building a bigger jail we wouldn’t have the the jaii overcrowding problem today?
IS IT TRUE we wonder why the mainstream media didn’t give much coverage to the SCB Hall of Fame Classic held at the Ford Center last week? …we wonder how many paid patrons attended to event?  …we also wonder if taxpayers money was used to subsidize this tournament?  …we wonder if the  Evansville Sports Corporation and the Evansville Convention and Visitors Bureau are going to sponsor this event again next year?  …we wonder why the CEO of the Evansville Convention and Visitors Bureau, Bob Warren hasn’t declared this event a rousing success?
 IS IT TRUE that the beloved Big Ten Conference that has more than 10 members is down to one prospect for making the College Football Playoff?…with the spanking that Iowa put on Ohio State and the last second field goal by Michigan State to beat Penn State, only the Wisconsin Badgers have a chance to make the playoffs and they may not get in even if they go undefeated?…we wonder who would have ever thought that such a thing was possible?
IS IT TRUE that the President of SWIRCA & MORE, RHONDA ZUBER is doing one heck of a job for this most worthily organization?
Todays READERS POLL question is:Do you feel its time to address the overcrowding problem at the Vanderburgh County jail?
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EDITOR’S FOOTNOTE:  Any comments posted in this column do not represent the views or opinions of the City County Observer or our advertisers


11 COMMENTS

  1. One solution to the jail problem is not to arrest so many people. I see four or five writ of attachment arrests every day. I believe people should pay there bills. But I do not believe the taxpayers should be paying for a bill collector on a private debt. We got rid of debtor prisons in 1895 but they seem to be still around just not profitable. Another one is shoplifting. You maybe surprised at how many of those we are housing. While these people maybe costing merchants money they are not a danger to society. Jails should be used to house people that commit serious crimes. Murderers rapists muggers and thugs and such. Keeping the drunks off the streets. Everything should not be a jailing offence. Just one mans opinion I could be wrong.

    • If your suspicions are correct and I expect they are, I will join you in advocating to release prisoners who have no violent offenses and are guilty of crimes with no or minimal victims. Shoplifting small items and possession of less than an ounce of MJ are more of a cost to society in jail than they are out of jail. If 20% meet these criteria! then we don’t have an overcrowding problem! we have a false imprisonment problem.

      • A person is ‘falsely imprisoned’ if they are put in jail for a crime they did not commit. Shoplifters and folks who disregard court orders (writs) to pay child support, etc., did in fact commit a crime. It’s odd that folks posting today seem largely okay with that, ostensibly because their crime didn’t ‘hurt anybody’.

        See also, Defining Deviancy Down…

    • As for as the shoplifting, in most cases the way I understand it if it is less than $750 they just write a citation. If you read the daily police reports provided by this site you will see most are given a citation unless they resisted or have been barred from the business previously which means they have multiple offenses.

  2. Ask Jim Raben why he wasa so against David Mosbys suggestion to build the extra jail pod we now so despatately need. HE was Mr No No No back then. Thinking 2005 or so? Check the County Council and County Commsioners meeting minutes. Its all there.Penny wise and a pound foolish. Now Raben can answer for it because he is STILL there. OMG

  3. Out of the 25 listed today as being arrested I only see three drunk and disorderly people that might be a hazard to the community. No murders partner beaters or muggers. Just misdemeanor failure to appear most $200 writ of attachments. I do not know all the facts just seems there are a lot of nonviolent offenders there.

    • Stone, are you saying that no ‘non-violent’ offenders should be put in jail? Serious question. If so, what do you define as ‘non-violent’? If a person gets robbed at knifepoint but nobody actually gets cut, is that a violent offense? If a drunk neighbor repeatedly threatens to beat the hell out of you, kill your dog, hurt your wife, etc., but doesn’t actually do it, is it a crime? Shady contractor who scams an elderly person out of a large sum of money for work which isn’t done. Jail time or no? No violence was committed.

  4. the # of changed stories, the # of suddenly needed retractions by Trump staff saying “yes, I did meet w/ russians and I guess, well, yes, I did meet with them” that come out every single damn day,

    well, it sure looks like they behaving like guilty criminals. this isn’t going well for trump. flynn is cooperating now to save his son. its a screeching train wreck

  5. The first two should go to jail. I have been scammed by a shady contractor. Putting them in jail would have made me feel better but would not have got my money back. I do not think the taxpayers should pay for my stupidity. Like I said I do not know all the facts.

Comments are closed.