IS IT TRUE OCTOBER 21, 2016

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IS IT TRUE we are hearing that the Evansville Thunderbolt marketing campaign designed to attract a large opening game day crowd may be short of its goal? …as of a couple of days ago Ticketmaster data reveals that the combined tickets sales and free comp tickets for the opening day game was around 1744 patrons?  …knowledgeable sources are telling us that opening day game attendance may be very disappointing ? …we hope that their predictions are wrong?  …research shows that the Evansville Icemen opening day game attendance for the last 5 years averaged about 8,500 sold and comps tickets?  …it looks like it might be time for the Evansville Thunderbolt management to share some of his marketing responsibilities with the extremely talented and qualified staff at VENUWORKS?

IS IT TRUE the new publicly subsidized Downtown Hotel and Convention Center is slated to open later this year around the same time the new Hyatt Place Hotel project will start construction?  …the Hyatt Place $18-million project didn’t receive any city subsidy?  …we wonder why the Mayor didn’t arrange a similar deal with the soon to be opened Downtown Hotel and Convention Center?

IS IT TRUE in Sept of 2015, the unauthorized transfer of the $12,500,000 from Riverboat Fund to the General fund  had not occurred the adjusted cash balance as of Sept 30, 2016 would had been a NEGATIVE $22,425,075 instead a NEGATIVE $12,497,025?  …we wonder why the only CPA on City Council didn’t bring this up this during the budget hearings?

IS IT TRUE EPD Officer Jeff Worthington is running for re-election to the EVSC Board unopposed? … we are hearing that some individuals are talking about doing a write-in ballot campaign against Mr. Worthington in the upcoming school board election?  …all we can say is this could be a developing story?

IS IT TRUE we wish the local print media would stop posting that County Commission candidate Sean Selby is an only child?  …the real fact is that Mr. Selby has 3 brothers?  …what does this have to do with the County Commissioner race?  …according to the local print Mr. Selby is head of a one man technology consulting firm that he operates out of his home?  …we wonder why Mr. Selby working out of his home in a business that has one employee has to do with the  County Commissioner race?

IS IT TRUE we promised to make an announcement concerning a subscription charge for City County Observer in 2017?…because of you, our readers and our advertisers the CCO had a phenomenal year in 2016? ….in 2016 we were able to live within our economic means, meaning that we started the year with no debt, ended the year with no debt, and paid all of our bills on time?…if the City of Evansville conducted itself in a similar manner financially as the CCO there would be no need for them to make any rate or tax increases?  …it is with extreme pleasure that we announce that the subscription rate for the CCO for 2017 is exactly ZERO (0) because we lived within our economic means since the day we started the CCO?

EDITORS FOOTNOTES: Todays READERS POLL question is: Do you support the decision of the local FOP filing a “Legal Injunction”  against the city concerning their Healthcare benefits?

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58 COMMENTS

  1. A question and a point to be made:

    Was the “unauthorized transfer” in 2015 an illegal action?

    And, it was brought to the C&P’s attention months ago, when it first appeared in their pages, that Selby was not an only child. And have they a problem with a small business owner running for office? It seems the C&P has gone in the tank for his opponent and one wonders if it’s because of his last name or his affiliation with the power behind the throne, ONB? Or both?

  2. Does anyone know what REALLY happened re: the Icemen’s departure ?

    I don’t believe Geary (couldn’t agree on lease) and I don’t believe The Mayor & The Minions (which would be a great name for a local rock band).

    If the Venuworks Thunderbolts flop, they will be relocated to another ‘venue’ promptly.

    • I believe your last sentence answers the question. How can the outfit which manages a municipal facility (Venuworks, managing the Ford Center) own a 90 % stake in one of the two primary tenants (i.e., the hockey team, with UE basketball the other) ?

      Spell that C-O-N-F-L-I-C-T of I-N-T-E-R-E-S-T.

      • It’s not about making a profit. Bread, butter and egg money. All businesses have to have customers that don’t make you rich, but they help you make payroll and pay bills. Net income? Not the objective. Simple enough.

      • Also wasn’t it stated in the contract that the City of Evansville could take over the team if Venuworks or Hall can’t make it work. I’m sure those Police and Firefighters who are saddled with increased insurance costs would love to hear that the city owns a hockey team.

        Remember when the mayor said that any deal with a hockey team had to be “taxpayer neutral”. Say goodbye to your homestead tax credits everyone (including county voters who have no representation in the CITY council).

        • Was that the reason they spent 130 million on a new building and tore the old one down. Total stupidness.

  3. By the way. It’s over.

    We’re gonna watch college football and World Series baseball from here on out. The campaign is now only a distraction.

    Weird thing is, if Pressanykey had kept his soul, reputation and morals and backed a real Republican instead of Trump? Massive win.

    But Pressanykey did the single biggest thing he could have ever done to help elect Hillary Clinton, President of the United States: He backed a pathetic fool, Donald Trump.

    The Clinton Campaign thanks you Pressanykey.

  4. When the Icemen started, both hockey and the Ford Center were shiny new toys. Curiosity drove the early crowds. Then there were a couple of good years with playoff runs and it looked like hockey really was catching on in Evansville. So what happened?

    First, the winning ceased. Winning teams have a bigger impact on attracting fans than the oppulence of any arena. Very few people really care about oppulence in temples to fun and games. People like to support winners.

    Second, the rents necessary to operate a $127M temple to sports exceed the level where a profit can be made. When the Icemen won, they lost money. When the Icemen lost they lost more money. There was never a winning business model developed and that my friends was the reason the Icemen are no longer a going enterprise.

    This is not unusual in semi-pro sports. Unless things have changed in the last five years the Otters also have operating losses that are absorbed by the owners. The Otters play in one of the most charming venues for minor league baseball in the country, are not saddled with a lease rate that comes with a $127M temple to fun and games, and still struggle financially.

    The new team is admittedly a step down the food chain in hockey hierarchy. People know this so ticket sales for game one reflect the real base of hockey lovers in Evansville. So, if hockey is to survive, a business model with a cost structure that is profitable with an average attendance of 2,000 or so paying fans per game is needed. Can it be done? We shall see.

    One more thing, the large crowds for the Icemen were juiced up by an abundance of free passes that were being spread around town.

    • It’s a shame that the Mayor screwed this up so badly. This new team won’t have a chance if they can’t draw more than 1500 people to the first game. The Mayor and the City along with Venuworks needs to get off their duffs and advertise more for this team if they want people to come to the games.

      With the loss of the Icemen which many people were really attached to, I doubt that the new team will make it if the number of tickets sold don’t improve quickly.

    • @Joe: Trust me, the Fraud Center will be filled for the home owner. The Cabal will splash freebies high and wide and send e-mails to their employees “encouraging” them to attend . . . .interesting that the Otters are taking the approach (for this past season) of NOT giving away free tickets, and see that as a road to profitability. Ever hear of MARGINAL REVENUE associated with free admission when a venue is less than full ??

  5. My uncle used to warn me ‘don’t step in the hockey’ when I’d visit his farm.

    I believe we’ve stepped in the hockey.

    • Yes, indeed. It is a big, nasty pile of it that Winkie is wading around in.

      Ron Geary gambled with a big chunk of his own cash and appears to have lost, which is totally his business. Winnie the Poop gambled with a big chunk of public money and appears to have lost, which is everybody’s business. I’d have more respect for him if he called a press conference and admitted his mistake, instead of sneaking around stinking up the carpet with the hockey he’s got on his shoes.

      The front man “owner” of the Thunderbolts and the read owner Venuworks pretty much got a “free ride” in all of this, but I don’t think they’ve done anything to be proud of, either.

      • It also helped Venuworks secure another 5-year contract uncontested. They will probably take over the Old National Events plaza soon. Considering the variety talent they have brought in, or lack thereof, I would be interested to see how much money Venuworks gives to the mayor’s campaign.

  6. Germans Are Leaving Germany ‘In Droves’
    Tyler Durden’s picture
    by Tyler Durden
    Oct 21, 2016 4:00 AM

    Submitted by Soeren Kern via The Gatestone Institute,

    More than 1.5 million Germans, many of them highly educated, left Germany during the past decade. — Die Welt.
    Germany is facing a spike in migrant crime, including an epidemic of rapes and sexual assaults. Mass migration is also accelerating the Islamization of Germany. Many Germans appear to be losing hope about the future direction of their country.
    “We refugees… do not want to live in the same country with you. You can, and I think you should, leave Germany. And please take Saxony and the Alternative for Germany (AfD) with you…. Why do you not go to another country? We are sick of you!” — Aras Bacho an 18-year-old Syrian migrant, in Der Freitag, October 2016.
    A real estate agent in a town near Lake Balaton, a popular tourist destination in western Hungary, said that 80% of the Germans relocating there cite the migration crisis as the main reason for their desire to leave Germany.
    “I believe that Islam does not belong to Germany. I regard it as a foreign entity which has brought the West more problems than benefits. In my opinion, many followers of this religion are rude, demanding and despise Germany.” — A German citizen who emigrated from Germany, in an “Open Letter to the German Government.”
    “I believe that immigration is producing major and irreversible changes in German society. I am angry that this is happening without the direct approval of German citizens. … I believe that it is a shame that in Germany Jews must again be afraid to be Jews.” — A German citizen who emigrated from Germany, in an “Open Letter to the German Government.”
    “My husband sometimes says he has the feeling that we are now the largest minority with no lobby. For each group there is an institution, a location, a public interest, but for us, a heterosexual married couple with two children, not unemployed, neither handicapped nor Islamic, for people like us there is no longer any interest.” — “Anna,” in a letter to the Mayor of Munich about her decision to move her family out of the city because migrants were making her life there impossible.

    A growing number of Germans are abandoning neighborhoods in which they have lived all their lives, and others are leaving Germany for good, as mass immigration transforms parts of the country beyond recognition.

    Data from the German statistics agency, Destatis, shows that 138,000 Germans left Germany in 2015. More are expected to emigrate in 2016. In a story on brain drain titled, “German talent is leaving the country in droves,” Die Welt reported that more than 1.5 million Germans, many of them highly educated, left Germany during the past decade.

    The statistics do not give a reason why Germans are emigrating, but anecdotal evidence indicates that many are waking up to the true cost — financial, social and cultural — of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to allow more than one million mostly Muslim migrants to enter the country in 2015. At least 300,000 more migrants are expected to arrive in Germany in 2016, according to Frank-Jürgen Weise, the head of the country’s migration office, BAMF.

    Mass migration has — among many other problems — contributed to a growing sense of insecurity in Germany, which is facing a spike in migrant crime, including an epidemic of rapes and sexual assaults. Mass migration is also accelerating the Islamization of Germany. Many Germans appear to be losing hope about the future direction of their country.

  8. “Lots and lots” of trouble for Evan “Beltway” Bayh as reported by the Indy Star:

    “INDIANAPOLIS – Evan Bayh says that his Indianapolis condominium has long been his home, and that he has spent “lots and lots” of time there since deciding to run for his old Senate seat. But a copy of his schedule shows Bayh did not stay overnight there once during his last year in office in 2010.

    The schedule provided to The Associated Press shows the Democrat spent taxpayer money, campaign funds or let other people pay for him to stay in Indianapolis hotels on the relatively rare occasions he returned from Washington, D.C.”

    http://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2016/10/21/bayh-stay-overnight-indiana-condo/92505722/

  10. These emails paint a picture of Hillary Clinton and her handlers that should scare the hell out of all Americans.

    • WikiLeaks proves absolutely nothing, as none of the Podesta emails have been verified in any way. WikiLeaks does point to Russia attempting to interfere with US elections, though. It is clear Putin wants to see Trump be POTUS, and that is scary.
      Btw, Infowars is a truly cracked-pot site that makes Breitbart seem sane.

  12. President Obama lied to the American people about his knowledge of Hillary’s illegal use of a private email server for official government business!

  13. TWITTER

    Kizzle
    ‏@KylePalko

    Just found out @JamesOKeefeIII has audio of Creamer and WH. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

    Retweets
    350
    Likes
    451

    2:45 PM – 20 Oct 2016
    0 replies 350 retweets 451 likes

  16. Agree with you on Selby being a only child or three brothers. Doesn’t have anything to do with the commissioners race. Just like who Shoulders family members are, it shouldn’t have anything to do with the election.

    • One of the largest sampling “internal poll” that has taken place in this election proves what we all knew, the media polling is rigged in Hillary’s favor.

  19. It is. It is done.

    You saw Trump last night at the Al Smith Dinner.

    He knows it. It’s over.

    Pressanykey and JoeBiden’s FIRST STAGE OF GRIEF:
    1. Shock and denial.

  20. Oh man. Did you see this? It’s getting ugly.
    From Politico:

    “Jim Murphy, Donald Trump’s National Political Director is gone just 19 days before the election. It’s the latest departure in a campaign rife with turnover. Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort resigned from the campaign in August, just two months after succeeding Trump’s first campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, who was fired. Longtime party strategist Ed Brookover, also left. The move comes at an inopportune time for the campaign, Murphy was driving the get out the vote strategy, with little more than two weeks remaining until Election Day and Trump cratering in opinion polls.”

  21. Trump Leads Even In the Corporate Media Polls:

    http://www.wnd.com/2016/10/voters-diverge-from-media-keep-trump-ahead/

    But the Anonymous poll linked at 10:57 is much more accurate because it was a 50 state poll, of a thousand voter per state, for a total sample of 50,000 voters. One of the largest sampling internal poll for this election. It has Trump ahead 67% to Clinton’s 19%. No doubt that this poll is the more accurate one out there today.

    • What leads you to the conclusion that there is “no doubt that this poll is the more accurate one out there today”?
      I suspect it uses the same methodology as the “polls” that say Trump won the debate, which are taken on pro-Trump websites. Trump DOES NOT have a 48% lead over Clinton out here in the real world.

      • Larger sampling, and from every state, guarantee a more accurate poll. As we all have suspected, Donald Trump is way ahead.

        • When the election is over and Jan 2017 comes around Hillary will be sitting in the White House pointing her friends to Press’s posts in here today. They will be good for a laugh or two after a few drinks.

        • When the election is over and Jan 2017 comes around Hillary will be sitting in the White House pointing her friends to Press’s posts in here today. They will be good for a laugh or two after a few drinks.

        • A larger REPRESENTATIVE sample is better than a smaller one. That’s the key. Your sample isn’t REPRESENTATIVE. It comes from rightwing crazies. Even Trump is talking about the possibility that he might lose today. You’re pathetic.

  22. Woman mistakes environmental meeting for Donald Trump rally and smears 30 cars with smooth peanut butter in protest. ‘Fortunately it wasn’t chunky peanut butter, so vehicles didn’t get scratched,’ said police. Christina Ferguson was arrested in Amherst Junction, Wisconsin after interrupting what turned out to be a meeting of a local environmental organization, Tomorrow River Conservation Club.

    Witnesses claimed the 32-year-old entered the meeting at 9:30pm holding a “family-size jar of low-sodium, creamy natural Jif” peanut butter, shouting about how much she hated the Republican candidate.

    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-elections/woman-town-meeting-donald-trump-rally-smears-30-cars-smooth-peanut-butter-protest-a7369991.html

  23. Can someone please explain what happened to get Worthington removed from his position as a school liaison officer?

    • For all of you on here who continue to get exercised over the way Evansville’s Government is being handled, have I not been going after the local establishment for years now over their treatment of the taxpayers, especially the middle class workers, what is left of them? I could name names, many of them, but I am not going to at this time, anyway most of you know who they are. We have seen that it is not a “party” thing, as the people in control purchase and put in place the people of both parties. No, the problem starts with some minor moral lapses, and if they are not addressed at the time, the disease spreads a little more, and a little more, until bringing it back under control becomes a daunting task for anyone who has the courage to expose it, and a desire to clean it up.

      That is precisely what we are dealing with in Washington too. If we ran a clean ship here locally, and at the State level, we would never have to worry about Washington. But alas, that is not the case.

      Voting Hillary Clinton into office would be tantamount to placing a stamp of approval on the currently infected government in Washington. She is firmly implanted in the establishment culture of Washington. A person who boasts about her multi million dollar wealth and in the same breath claims to have always worked in “government service” and in “charity” work. Where did that wealth come from? She thumbs her nose at our laws, and sees nothing wrong in compromising the Office of the Attorney General of the United States, The Director of the FBI, and the Commissioner of the IRS in order to shield herself from the laws the rest of us must obey. She also thumbs her nose at election laws by commingling the funds of the Clinton Foundation with her presidential campaign funds. Funds that are largely contributed by foreign donors and Wall Street Investment Houses.

      What is at stake in this election is the future of this Nation. Whether we will vote for more of the same under the most corrupt individual who has ever run for the office of president, or whether we break the chains and move forward to a better country for all citizens under a person who is not owned by the establishment in Washington.

      May God bless the United States of America.

  26. BREAKING NEWS:

    “Despite conducting her own government business through a personal “homebrew” server while secretary of state, Hillary Clinton is seen in a newly obtained video lecturing her staff of their “special duty” to recognize the importance of cybersecurity.

    “The real key to cybersecurity rests with you,” Clinton says in the 2010 video, which was obtained by FoxNews.com. “Complying with department computing policies and being alert to potential threats will help protect all of us.””
    ……………………….
    See link below for Hillary’s lecture on cyber security:

    http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/10/21/clinton-lectured-state-dept-staff-on-cybersecurity-in-2010-video.html

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