IS IT TRUE February 28, 2014

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Mole #??
Mole #??

IS IT TRUE today is the day that the $200,000 loan that Mayor Winnecke and the Loan Administration Board sneaked to Earthcare Energy LLC is due and payable in full?…the balance is now $186,000 and will be a welcome addition to the coffers of the City of Evansville?…there are some CCO Moles that have told us that the City of Evansville may still consider Earthcare Energy as a viable option for a manufacturing attraction project?…upon hearing that resurrecting this deal was in the cards we did a little research and learned that the website for Earthcare Energy LLC is no longer functional?…we also learned that Mr. Ken Haney, Steven Geldmacher, Ervin Washington and the crew that was well VETTED by City Councilwoman Stephanie Brinkerhoff-Riley back in 2012 has renamed the enterprise as ENVIRO ENERGY LLC?…we also saw that the website is the exact same website as the Earthcare Energy LLC site and still has the same news releases about meetings with the Department of Energy and an Indonesian business?…all of the articles about Evansville including the announcement that they were ready to start hiring 120 people are missing?

IS IT TRUE even some halfway intelligent people who are irrationally exuberant may get fooled once by failing to VET, but only a complete fool falls for the same trick twice?…it is time to collect this debt and put this money to some good use like a free dental clinic to serve Evansville’s poor?…the reaction of the Mayor and the Loan Administration Board at Monday’s 3:00 meeting will be very interesting to watch?…one would think that having handled snakes once and being bitten would be a sufficient lesson for one with even a shred of wisdom?

IS IT TRUE we were surprised to learn in our recent Freedom of Information Act request that the law firm that employs former Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel has been cashing checks of over $900,000 per year since the Winnecke Administration occupied the Civic Center?…prior to Winnecke becoming mayor this law firm was billing the City of Evansville less than half of that amount?…we wonder why the business of this firm with the City of Evansville doubled right after the former Mayor became employed there?

IS IT TRUE that the City County Observer has presented the City of Evansville with a formal request to be included in future press releases sent out by the Mayor’s Media person?… the City County Observer shall be filing a formal complaint against the Mayor and his Media person with the Indiana Public Access Counselor for not complying with Public Access laws of Indiana on Monday of next week?…posted below is our formal requests to the City of Evansville concerning future news releases sent out by the city.

“For the remainder of 2014, the City County Observer requests that the City of Evansville please send it copies of any and all City of Evansville press and news releases, all City of Evansville Board meeting notices, all City of Evansville Commission meeting notices, and all Evansville Water & Sewer Utility meeting notices and related agendas for all such bodies. Please send such documents to this email address. Thank you.”

IS IT TRUE that the leadership of the area’s “SmokeFree” group can’t get an appointment with the Mayor of Evansville until mid March?…the reason given was the Mayors schedule is full until that time?

IS IT TRUE we are wondering what the status is concerning Comp Time Bank Buy-Out option with members of the Evansville Fire Department?…the Evansville City Council had nothing to do with the city deciding not to fund Comp Time Bank Buy-Out option of the Police Department in 2014 …that the only cuts City Council made had to do with COLA increases, Capital Improvement project and not cuts in wages, employee benefits or overtime funding issues?

IS IT TRUE we would like to thank FOP President Larry Nelson for pointing out to the difference between FOP membership and members of the Evansville Police Department?…we have agreed to sit down with Mr. Nelson and do an in-depth interview concerning the many charitable acts the FOP does on behalf of this community? …once this article is published we know that our readers will be motivated to support the worthy charitable activities sponsored by the FOP?

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188 COMMENTS

  1. Wienzapfel{light}+crook = Winnecke+ Parke = crooks ,cronies and conmen this is the equation we have seen for the past 11 years and cannot seem to vote for change! Just bad leadership overall!

        • Wayne doesn’t answer our questions. His group thinks they are too good for that. They think they should only be able to ask you questions.

      • I take no medicine except Aleve,aspirin and a sinus tablet. Can you say the same Wayne? I enjoy an adult beverage after work. All of these things are over the counter and legal to use! Hey Wayne is everyone you disagree with have to be off their meds?

  2. Snakes in the Grass? Like his predecessor, This Mayor pretty well does what he thinks he is big enough to do, and each of them disregard(ed) the reality that they are/were a “Servant of the People”.
    Weinzapfel slithered away from the voters fearing a questionable electability, and this Mayor should take heed, and look, to slip away as well.
    Will Evansville again be snake bitten when the dust settles from the next Mayoral/City Council elections?
    Surely not 3 times in a row, for God’s sake!

  3. CCO calls the Mayor’s office releases propaganda and then files a request and threatens to file a complaint if they don’t receive said propaganda. This is the equivalent of saying, “I hate you, but please continue to invite me to your parties.”

    Editor, can you change the name of this site to Catch-22 News. Your motto can be “You’re damned if you do, You’re damned if you don’t.”

    • A free press depends on disclosure to all publishers. Are you old enough to remember Pravda? That was the official publication of the communist party in the USSR. They were nothing but a tool for the Kremlin. Ever heard of Kremlin? The CP (Courier Pravda) is pretty much the equivalent here in Evansville. If you want diversity in reporting you better support full and equal disclosure. Otherwise you will become Komrad Davis with goo-goo eyed ignorance waiving the flag for some dictator.

      • “Courier & Pravda” is both funny and true. However, to be fair to Pravda, the C&P is farther to the left with their new Editorial Board and homemade Obama cheer leading political cartoons. It’s as if Occupy Wall Street activists took over the C&P, but no one reported it.

      • I would agree that the CP is 98% in lockstep with Mayor Winnecke but I hardly think they qualify for Pravda status. I lived throught that time.

      • I fully support a free press. Unfortunately, we have not had that in this country in quite some time. Every news outlet has their own agenda, including CCO. If I were in the Mayor’s Office or in any political position, I would not give CCO anything until they stopped being so blatantly biased. In the past two days, there have been two memoes from inside city government posted on this site and both times the associated articles were full of negative undertones. Then you have the polls which are the equivalent of asking, “Do you still beat your wife?” Either answer that is available to pick is a swipe at the person targeted. People often take my remarks as being harsh on CCO, when it’s meant more as constructive criticism. I’ve never spoken with Ron, but Joe and I have a cordial relationship.

        • I see, now information from public officials and offices are on a conditional basis. You stop bad mouthing us and we will give you the info.

          • Now that would go against my first sentence. If you’re press, you should act like it. That’s if you want to be credible and included in press releases. Anyone can create a website and call it a newspaper. That doesn’t mean that they are to anyone and everyone else.

            • There are plenty of people in Evansville who no longer consider the Courier and Press to be a legitimate news outlet. All they do is reprint AP articles and pack water for Winnecke. That just ain’t journalism Mr. Davis

          • No you don’t support free press. You can’t have it both ways by saying you support free press and then in the same paragraph say in effect the CCO can’t have any information because they (in your judgement) are to harsh on public officials.

          • Yoda, please see CEP’s post below the shows the state criteria to be considered a newspaper. I skimmed through it, but I’m pretty sure that the opinion of some people in the community was not on the list to be a state-recognized newspaper. And people say that I have the big ego.

          • dveatch, By the most elementary definition, the one that we were told in grade school, journalism is supposed to be neutral and unbiased. Also, based on the Indiana Code, CCO does not meet the criteria of a state-recognized newspaper. This site is a blog. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Perez Hilton got quite famous from his blog.

            • Phyllip and Yoda made me curious. It looks as though the CCO does not qualify as a newspaper under Indiana code. It also looks as if we charged for access to our content that we would qualify.

              The Indiana code with its requirements to be granted status by the US Post Office and charging for content is however as outdated as buggy whips. That is typical for Indiana from smoking, to land based casinos, to marriage, to buying cold beer on Sunday, to darn near anything one considers.

              Online distribution without a subscription is the future of publishing. The Huffington Post that sold to AOL for $250 Million plus would not qualify as a newspaper under Indiana’s antiquated definition of a newspaper.

              http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title5/ar3/ch1.html

          • Yoda, what are you talking about? CEP is short for ClassyEvansvillePolitics. He/She posted the Indiana Code’s definition of newspaper.

            Editor, I agree with you. Revenue genration from subscriptions should not be a criterion to be a newspaper. Although, I would hardly call HuffPo a newspaper. More like liberal dishrag. 🙂

            • Yet our buddy Brad Linzy is an approved contributor to HuffPo and he is anything but left leaning. I see them as a national issue publication with a strong left lean that never the less allows right leaning content. They deserve newspaper status as much as the New York Times does.

          • Phyllip.

            The CCO is not as harsh as you make out though your sensibilities maybe. Again your saying CCO should “act” according to your sensibilities. You just can’t stand straight up and honest reporting or the asking of questions.

            In most cases their IIT are are statements in the form of a question and those questions, as ugly or non-journalistic as you may think they are, are very pertinent. Sometimes, well most given the stupidity that is rampant in Evansville politics such ugly questions are frequent, hence your perception.

            Frankly, one of the redeeming and refreshing qualities of CCO is its forthrightness and straight to the pointedness. I’ll take that any day over your ear candy and I don’t care which party is in “power”.

          • Editor, I know Brad is a contributor to HuffPo. MSNBC has some right-leaning contributors and Fox has some left-leaning ones, but that does not change what the networks are as a whole. NYT is a horrible example of who deserves newspaper status. They are a liberal propaganda channel that once may have been a legitimate and balanced newspaper.

            • I agree with you that the NYT is biased. The point is that they would clearly meet the criteria to be deemed “a newspaper”.

          • dveatch, it has nothing to do with honest reporting or asking of questions. Look at today’s poll, either you agree that we should be on the Mayor’s mailing list or you agree that he puts out propaganda. There’s no balance in that or the last poll about Pete Swaim where it started by including the word “appointed” as a smack in the face of Swaim.

          • Phyllip, we are on the same page regarding the NYT. A shame though at one time they used to be an OK paper but that was in the last century, maybe the 60s or earlier.

    • Politicans who have nothing to hide should welcome the press ( no matter how big or small)
      That shows they are being xparent and not trying to hide sumn
      Winicke is hiding everything and everybody knows it including you unless your to stupid to know it or your getting sumn on the side

    • Mr. Davis:

      I have a solution. Why don’t you be the screener of all press releases from the Mayor’s office? Throw in the trash can those which are ‘propoganda’; and deliver to the CCO’s Editor all of those which represent genuine news.

      Are you game ? You seem to have a wealth of spare time to visit this blog. The question: in one year’s time from now, will the Editor have received ANYTHING ?

      • I remember a time not too long ago that Mayor Winnecke’s office sent his state of the city remarks to CCO for publishing. What changed since then? Did the administration all of sudden stop sharing with media outlets? Sometimes when people stop treating us kindly it’s because of us, not them.

  4. I’ve been a AFOP member for almost 30 years it’s a great organization that is always giving back to the community, from the PAL camp to various other drives to support the needy of our area the FOP/AFOP are always ready to help, I’m surprised the CCO don’t know about the associate membership.

    JMHO

    • The associate membership is a great way for us civilians to support FOP. I had planned on getting one after we visited the camp during last spring’s Citizens’ Academy (which is a great program from EPD), but I’m such a procrastinator that I never turned it in. I believe the associate membership is only $35.

      • Phyllip, Yeah it’s $35 unless your renewing which was $25 this year if you pay before the end of Jan or Feb, not sure if they changed the requirements but when I joined you needed a FOP sponsor and had to pass a background check similar to buying a firearm, at least that’s what one of my friends on the department told me, course’ he coulda’ just been messin’ with me the older guys in the cop shop have a sense of humor. 😉

        I’ve met a lot of nice people over the years at the club from Larry Nelson to Roberta Matlock, lots of interesting people.

        JMHO

    • I want to join, can I get in on the next SWAT raid at the old folks home?

    • Wow! I followed your link and these snake oil peddlers can’t even raise a single dollar on donation gathering site. They are not only hucksters, they are stupid. Look at some of the crap that actually gets money on the crowd-beggar sites and it makes it clear just how inept these suckers are. How can Evansville have elected a crew stupid enough to have been shaken down by a group that is getting ZERO on indiegogo. There is one on there panhandling a toilet paper for dogs scheme that at least got some money. They were do damn dumb to even commit $100 to their own project to make it look like someone bit. They are not even smart enough to steal.

      • Did you notice the statement on the right side of their web page below the “Contribute Now” button?

        “This campaign will receive all funds raised even if it does not reach its goal. Funding duration: February 01, 2014 – March 03, 2014 (11:59pm PT).”

        • Maybe Winnecke can get Old National Bank to give Earthcare $180,000 on indiegogo so they can pay Evansville back and keep the noose from around his neck. Naming rights for the dumb ass of the year will be granted.

    • Haha, weren’t these guys suppose to be South Carolina bound by now?

      One other thing, we now know that Global Blade Tech left the 41 plant as well very quietly, but we don’t seem to no why or if there’s any financial holdout from it. Has anyone been able to get to the bottom of that story?

      Lastly, THANK YOU CCO for keeping the pressure on for the return of the low income dental clinic.

    • Brent;
      Aircraft staged bleed air cooling turbines, or for pressure or power or ATM,such as in the left wing root of a Lockheed C-130-series, Old stuff.

      Hot compressed bleed gas from a turbine engine stage,provides the pressure to turn the receiver turbine. That torque energy is converted through passage and exhausted,by product,start pressures,by (GTC)gas turbine compressors application or generated power as created by some APUs auxiliary power units. 1950s technology. Heck wikipedia it.
      Aviation starts and runs aircraft ground systems with them everyday in ….meah.

      http://www.Freepatentsonline.com/3878677.html

  8. Please, file a complaint with the Public Access Counselor. I know the guy (very nice), and he will be whacking you around with his decision. Save some face and don’t do it.

    I.C. § 5-14-1.5-5(b)(2) provides that the governing body of a public agency shall provide public notice by delivering notice to all “news media” which deliver annual written request for the notices not later than December 31 for the next succeeding calendar year to the governing body of the public agency. The governing body shall give notice, at its election, either via U.S. Mail, email, or facsimile. See I.C. § 5-14-1.5-5(b)(2)(A)-(C).

    I.C. § 5-14-1.5-2(j) defines “news media” as all newspapers qualified to receive legal advertisements under Indiana Code 5-3-1, all news services (as defined in Indiana Code 34-6-2-87), and all licensed commercial or public radio or televisions stations. I.C. 5-3-1-0.4 defines “newspapers” as:

    Sec. 0.4. As used in this chapter, “newspaper” refers to a newspaper:

    (1) that:

    (A) is a daily, weekly, semiweekly, or triweekly newspaper of general circulation;
    (B) has been published for at least three (3) consecutive years in the same city or town;
    (C) has been entered, authorized, and accepted by the United States Postal Service for at least three (3) consecutive years as mailable matter of the periodicals class; and
    (D) has at least fifty percent (50%) of all copies circulated paid for by subscribers or other purchasers at a rate that is not nominal; or

    (2) that:
    (A) is a daily, weekly, semiweekly, or triweekly newspaper of general circulation;
    (B) has been entered, authorized, and accepted by the United States Postal Service as mailable matter of the periodicals class;
    (C) has at least fifty percent (50%) of all copies circulated paid for by subscribers or other purchasers at a rate that it not nominal; and
    (D) meets the greater of the following conditions:

    (i) The newspaper’s paid circulation during the preceding year is equal to at least fifty percent (50%) of the paid circulation for the largest newspaper with a periodicals class permit located in the county in which the newspaper is published, based on the average paid or requested circulation for the preceding twelve (12) months reported in the newspaper’s Untied State Postal Service Statement of Ownership published by the newspaper in October of each year or based on the newspaper’s initial application for a permit from the United States Postal Service.

    (ii) The newspaper has an average daily paid circulation of one thousand five hundred (1,500) based on the average paid or requested circulation for the preceding twelve (12) months reported in the newspaper’s United States Postal Service Statement of Ownership published by the newspaper in October of each year or based on the newspaper’s initial application for a permit from the United States Postal Service.”

    Pursuant to I.C. § 34-6-2-87, “news services” is defined as an entity that is either a membership association or a corporation with subscribers that gather and transmits news to its members or subscribers and maintains an office in Indiana.

    I do not see anywhere you are part of a membership association or corporation with subscribers that gather and transmit news to its member or subscribers. As such, you would not qualify as a “news service” under I.C. § 34-6-2-87. Lastly, you have not provided that you operate a licensed commercial or public radio or television station. Accordingly, Mayors office would not have violated the Open Door Law by refusing to provide you with notice pursuant to section 5(b)(2) as you do not meet the definition of “news media” pursuant to I.C. § 5-14-1.5-2(j).

    • There goes CEP muddying the waters with factually accurate information. There is no room for facts in this comments section. We accept opinion, hyperbole and conspiracies. Please keep this in mind for future posts.

      • How about you try to dig up any kind of facts out about the Hotel project, such as: Were is ONB’s money? What does “up to $14 million” mean and what is the least amount that ONB could contribute? Is it a done deal that HCW has their portion of the money? Has the site passed all its seismic and environmental testing and is ready to be built on? How much did/will the City spend to test and prepare the site and where will/did that money come from? If HCW doesn’t have their money and/or the site is not ready to be built on, why schedule the ground breaking?

        I won’t hold my breath for answers.

        • Don’t ask him to do that. The last time someone did he took a vacation from the CCO.

          • Right on. Maybe we could fund a trip to Disney for Phyllip on indiegogo.com. Or Jakarta or Siberia…

        • BigPappa

          Not a bad set of questions, and I wish you luck on finding the answers.

          Not everything that the CCO does is ill-advised, and I really and truly do applaud them for some of the questions and issues they have raised in the past. Yes, some of them have “paid off” for Evansville.

          However, just because you have a website that people may come to to ask questions or turn in “tips” does not mean that you meet the definition of being a member of the “news media”. It is clear from the above that Indiana has spent a lot of time deciding this issue (since the rules above are in the Indiana Code (IC) and not the Indiana Administrative Code (IAC) for clarification).

          The current state of technology and Internet is that pretty much anybody with a little bandwidth and some time can construct a website (or in this case, a blog), but that does not mean they have any journalistic skills. Running a blog is not the same thing as being a reporter. The difference (IMHO) is that it is far too easy for millions of people to setup websites and blogs, and these places make it easy for people to rant their particular “slant” on the affairs of politics.

          I dare anyone to tell me that the CCO does not “lean” a particular way. Journalistic integrity (at least how I remember it) is that an outlet “reports the news” and lets “you decide” what it means. Journalism and news is not about slamming those you do not agree with or like, it is reporting on events and letting the public decide how they fell. When you try and influence the populace you are no longer news, you are a political organization attempting to chance the status quo.

          Speaking of statis quo, where the hell had Bradly been lately? DId he get hit by a METS bus, or has the cold weather disconnected his Internet?

          • I agree with you about CCO. On a whole, I enjoy visiting the site and I learn a lot about what’s going on in local government. I just wish that they would take the high road while taking people to task. It can be done. I’ll give you three examples of minor changes that would go a long way in improving the image of this site: 1. Change the phrasing of the survey/poll. You can ask the question and have the same impact and results without being offensive. 2. Mole is a dysphemism. You could call it your whistleblower network and give out Golden Whistles. 3. You’ve already started this, but you need to exercise more control on your comment section. I know that I have been guilty of this offense and I have apologized to the person that I offended, but there has to be a zero tolerance on personal attacks. Keep the comments section from being a battle royal.

            That’s just my two cents. As Blanger says, “JMHO”.

          • “When you try and influence the populace you are no longer news, you are a political organization attempting to chance the status quo.”

            Then there are a more than a few “news” outlets that should not have such a status.

        • I’m not the one that pretends to be an investigative journalist. I’m a big picture person. I let the experts deal with the particulars. I do not have any doubts that the hotel will be completed on schedule. What does that have to do with this thread? I don’t follow people on their tangents. My comments today are in reference today’s IIT and the validity in their complaint against not being included in the Mayor’s mailing list.

          • Well I could be wrong and the Editor can jump in and correct me, but I think the CCO does more than post a bunch of IIT questions everyday. They do perform some of their own investigations. Its not like they just post any and all mole tips without some amount of vetting. And hasn’t CCO in that past posted some of their own non-mole IIT questions?

            • Yes to all of your questions. We post the EPD reports daily without editing too. There have been several in depth vetting analyses done by the CCO with regard to valuations of the hotel, the McCurdy, the ballfields, parks, etc. We also connect the dots between campaign donations and government spending.

          • @Editor, then by your own admission you are guilty of performing the same level or type of investigations, vetting, etal as a newspaper and more so as a journalist. I say that tongue in cheek as you clearly dispense with much of the floweriness and get right down to brass tacks.

            The only real difference and in my view at best trivial is much of your “source news” is from “moles” (that is, people that know something of importance). Oddly a journalist will often seek out such “moles” for their research. So for those believing CCO is less than their counter parts I think you all are very wrong in that perception.

        • In the comments section? Indeed! It’s like a mosh pit of opinions. May the snarkiest comment win!

    • I think the City County Observer is a legitimate Question & Answer Service. The CCO asks the questions and its moles and commenters provide the answers. Even if that doesn’t qualify as a news outlet, it certainly is as entertaining as many other forms of modern media.

      • Entertaining indeed. The “news” content is often carpetbombing. They may hit some targets, but there’s a lot of collateral damage. The moles may be knowledgeable, but there’s only a handful of commenters that I put much faith in their knowledge of the workings of local politics or city politics in general. I enjoy the discussions, but too often they end up in name-calling.

        • Phyllip, when saying “entertaining” I was thinking more along the lines of Jerry Springer. In other words, informative, but sometimes hard to look at or take in with full credibility.

          As far as the moles, I really don’t see why CCO needs official news releases from the Winnecke administration as apparently nothing goes on in that building without four or five leaks that obviously originate on the 3rd floor.

          • I’ll try to say this in the least offensive way…I keep coming back on here like the NASCAR fan that watches for the wrecks. Except, I get to cause some of the wrecks by stating a dissenting opinion. The CCO comments section is like watching the night race at Bristol. You know there’s going to be something worth witnessing. Thanks for the Springer reference. Now I’ll be chanting “JERRY!, JERRY!, JERRY!” everytime I read one of the online snark brawls.

            • We must admit that the comment section has a life of its own, but then again allowing an open forum to vent or express opinions is healthy for a free society. Sometimes comments that are threatening or grossly offensive are taken down but we ere on the side of free speech.

              As for IIT, take today’s as an example. We touched on about 6 different subjects. One could claim it is carpet bombing but the reality is that every subject is 100% truth that we can prove. That is not carpet bombing. That is six laser guided bombs right down six deserving chimneys.

              What is amazing from this end is how far some of the comments deviate from the topics of the day.

          • My characterizations of CCO and its moles are not necessarily applicable to today’s IIT or any specific comment. And I don’t intend to comb through today’s comments to find an example of wild and unsubstantiated theories.

            However, and from time to time, in past editions of ITT, and more so in regard to many revelations attributed to moles, there have been blatant errors, deliberate misinformation, and gross exaggerations. Yes, there have been a few retractions, but not nearly as many retractions as errors and exaggerations that were left hanging out there.

            And it’s pretty obvious where certain of the moles are employed and why they hold the grudges that induce them to make wild claims and exaggerate their levity.

          • Editor, An open forum is healthy for a free society, but not healthy for a business, which is what CCO is. You can have healthy & open discussions that express all opinions while staying civil. I think that having another news outlet that gives a different perspective is something that most people can get behind, but you have to give the regular Joe something to keep him engaged. Truth be told, it’s only a handful of us that visit this site regularly and contribute to the discussions. I’m sure that there’s a lot more people that visit, see the melee in the comments section and go away to never return. The CCO is your baby. It’s still in its infancy and can grow up how you choose. As long as the site seems negative, a large percentage of people will dismiss your opinions and statements no matter how persistent that you are.

            • Thank you for your concern for our business model. The United States is a truly great country to do business in because we truly can choose on what we allow and what we don’t. Our year over year growth is +30% relative to last year in unique visitors and pageviews. The CP decided in August to charge for digital content and the privilege to post. Much of our growth came to us as a result of their decision. Our ad sales are higher and so is our traffic. Those are our business metrics. We are also profitable which is more than can be said for darn near every official newspaper in this country with the exception of the Wall Street Journal that by the way allows open discussion in their comment section.

              People vote with their feet in the real world. The feet of many of the CP voters are now here. As long as we continue to meet our growth and revenue topics there is no reason to restrain our readers. And to Civil Servant, we let Mr. Davis ding us because most of his posts are not directed at the CCO. He brings a different perspective and mixes it up. There have been a few in the past that just continually teed off on the CCO with no meaningful content. They are now banned.

          • Editor, you know more than anything my goal is to improve the community. I believe that’s why you have always been hospitable towards me. If I make a comment that is critical towards you, it is usually not meant with any disrespect. Two news outlets is what’s best for the community. I do not pretend to know more than you or discredit your growth, it’s just offering a different perspective.

          • Oh I don’t know about “free and open” not being healthy for business. Slashdot can be way way more rowdy than anything you will see here and that site has been around for a very very long time (since 1997).

    • ClassyEvillePolitics:

      If a private citizen requested in writing, not later than December 31 for the next succeeding calendar year, to be included on the mailing list for the “notices” issued by the governing body of a public agency, is that that public agency required to comply with that request?

      ___

      • Pressanykey

        According to the Indiana Public access Counselor, the answer is a resounding no.

        I tend to agree. Can you imagine the logistics if every citizen requested to be officially notified/

        Besides, use a little initiative and sign up for the email alerts City and County provides, and go to the local government website to look at the meeting schedule.

        IMHO

        • Tell you what, I will work on the initiative thing if you will work on the humility thing. Deal?

          __

  9. Ok. So it’s February 28th. Rumplebeancounter’s Annual Report is due and it hasn’t been submitted yet and the State Board is still auditing 2012. Hmmm…

    • Yep. Can’t even reconcile the checking accounts yet were poised to go forward with the Hotel and maybe even the Medical School, multimillion dollar projects both, let alone CSO

      What are the odds the $11.5M private money from the REIT is NOT in the bank as the groundbreaking?

      100% is my guess.

      What if it is never there? Will we the taxpayers and citizens of Evansville be stuck with a 2/3rds, 3/4ths built hotel???

  10. So are the taxpayers not entitled to know how much and to who the legal fees are paid to? Sould the peons have to kneel at the foot of the king and beg for scraps? Maybe the Posey county times could request that info. I know the West Salem times advocate has the guts to stir this pot. Will none of the cty council release this info? Everybody knows there is scandolous amounts of tax dollars being funneled to law firms who will reciprocate with hefty donatons for re-election.

    • Good find Press. When in the course of general accounting practices did borrowed money become revenue? What a scam artist.

    • Criminal proceedings

      As corporate or business frauds are criminal acts under the Indonesian Penal Code, the management of the company (those who act on behalf of and in the name of the company) can be held personally liable.

      Sanctions that can be imposed are, among others, imprisonment, fines and forfeiture of property. The court has a very wide discretion as to what sanction it eventually imposes.

  12. Editor-why don’t you just kick that Davis dud off your site? It’s obvious he isn’t smart. He is also a very offensive person. In fact, all he his doing lately is trashing the CCO. Get rid of his red neck ass!

    • No. We need him. This is a site that primarily advocates fiscal responsibility. Davis is a conservative Republican and Uncle Tom for the Winnecke administration. Yet Winnecke is a social liberal and fiscal retard. It’s so much fun watching Davis defend Winnecke. And where Davis just melts down into quoting scripture when he’s at a loss= Awesome.

      • The “Uncle Tom” remark is far, far, beyond the pale. I don’t often agree with Phyllip, but you crossed the line of decency with that.

        • We saw that and have asked Phyllip what he prefers with regard to editing the words out. We will honor his preference.

          • I wasn’t slamming CCO, but I certainly was taking a smack at Transparency 911. I agree that honoring Phyllip’s wishes is the best way to handle it.

          • Editor, just so you know I would never expect or ask you to edit out anything someone posts about me.

          • Well expect for things like social security numbers, bank account numbers and the like.

          • Editor, we’ve discussed this in the past. Most of the racial remarks that are directed at me on this site are veiled. This is the first time that it’s ever been so blatant. I would assume by the rest of their language that T911 is a Democrat. That confirms my opinion that the Democrat party is truly the racist party. I’ve left the plantation and now I’m being insulted for it. This also confirms my opinion about the acolytes on this site. If I speak critically of their precious site, then turn into rabid dogs. I don’t hide my identity because I can handle the blowback. I think we all know that T911 would never say that to me in person. If he did, he would learn a lesson about the effects of racism.

        • Why? Democrats use the term “Uncle Tom” regularly to describe black conservatives. Maybe when you’re ready to admit that the left’s biggest fear is minorities leaving the government plantation you won’t be looked at as a hypocrite.

      • Editor–Transparency 911 comment needs to come down ASAP. It is way over the line. Sick.

  13. Politically, Phyllip and I don’t agree on much, however I see nothing he’s said that would rise to the level of being banned, obviously I don’t have the power to do that anyway, JMO.

    • Thank you. It’s a good thing to have differing opinions. Different viewpoints make for a better world. We can respectfully disagree on a number of things. There are very few things in this world that are black and white. It’s all different shades of gray.

  14. Various thoughts and musings:

    Phyllip is correct about the CCO playing the occasional game of Catch 22 gotcha journalism but the CCO has also consistently held both parties accountable.

    I get frustrated with the selective publishing of only bad information about the Obama administration and the ACA but even so, what they print is factual and they seldom build strawmen, sadly though on occassion they do like their anecdotal evidence. SMH.

    Phyllip you can’t control what the media does. If you’re playing JV or riding the bench the coach might being playing favorites and keeping you down, but all you can do is go out during practice and be better than the varsity guy. If the Winnecke administration had spent the firt 2 years concentrating on upgrading the basic government services and getting the accounting cleaned up he would have a lot more support from people like me and the CCO. The CCO should be on the media release list even if they do play unfair occasionaly.

    $900,000/year in legal fees is beyond belief. How can a podunk city like Evansville rack up that much is legal fees to one firm!!??? What say the JW supporters??

    • How can Evansville have almost a million dollar legal bill? I’ll hazard a guess; they (politicians) want to do things that while perhaps not illegal are on the fringe which needs lawyers to weave between the poles (no pun intended).

      • Actually the entire legal bill for 2013 is over $3 Million. The amount that went to the former Mayor’s employer is just over $900,000.

          • 2013: $890,000
            2012: $791,000
            2011: $6,000
            2010: $6,000

            Plus maybe some additional in a catch all category that was about $500k total for worker’s comp claims etc.

          • ZSWS take from the EVSC is, I would wager, far north of the city of Evansville figure. And that stream is not disrupted by changes in local politics.

            ___

        • Faegre, Baker, Daniels LLP: $10,150

          The kickback for $900,000 worth of business is right there for all the world to see on your link.

          • http://www.faegrebd.com/jonathan-weinzapfel

            It certainly looks as if Weinzapfel set himself up nicely to benefit financially from his time as mayor of Evansville when he left office.

            The financial reporting exceptions between SMG and the city, found on the last SBOA audit raises red flags for the relationship between Mr. Weinzapfel and his hand picked, first ever, “CFO” for the Water Department, Jenny Collins. There was no independent financial review or audit of 6 years worth of contracts (2006-11) between SMG (Jenny Collins) and The City of Evansville (Jonathan Weinzapfel).

            This does not inspire confidence in the public that what is going on with the multimillion dollar contracts at the water department are on the up and up. Things seem more like a tight knit little group with extraordinary control over millions of dollars worth of contracts for which local taxpayers and ratepayers must pick up the tab.

            ___

            • Winnecke increasing the business to Faegre, Baker, Daniels right after Weinzapfel took the job by over a half million a year looks as crooked as anything Halliburton was ever accused of. If this is not illegal it should be because no one with a shred of ethics would do such a thing. Are you listening Winnecke? Are you listening Parke? THIS IS BLATANTLY WRONG!

        • HCW Management Consultants LLC: $1,000

          How about that one? A down payment on a payoff for a $20 Million welfare check???

        • Ziemer, Ted C. Jr.: $13,195.16

          I wonder how much this inept old coot got for his donation?

    • The best journalist in history built up to a gotcha moment. No one has ever been gotten without setting their own trap. The problem today is that the mainstream media are all herded into ideological corners. The legitimate gotcha is now the domain of blogs. “Official” newspapers have lost their courage to make the gotcha happen even if it is handed to them on a silver platter. Note that there was only ONE Evansville publication to call out the City for the Earthcare loan coming due. Coincidence or a mass case of chicken shit?

      • So so true. It is a shame how far mainstream media has fallen from the responsibility our Founding Fathers placed in them and one reason blogs have filled that void. That answer to your question involves chickens.

    • We’re in pretty full agreement on the points you’re making here, BB. As I’ve said before, on a local basis party doesn’t really matter to me. It’s too hard to find good people who want to do the jobs, in a pool as small as the city, to worry about what party they belong to. It looks to me like we need to keep looking because we haven’t found those “good people” yet. We have a couple on City Coucil that have a great deal of potential, but they may not be willing to make governing a full-time occupation.
      It seems like every rock we turn over in City Hall has a lot of worms underneath it.

          • Compliments of Mr. AlSharpie. I wouldn’t think a thing of it, I’ve had my own financial struggles, but the arrogance is over the top for an under a rock dweller.

          • @tommy,

            Of course it’s my fault. But I see her lecture Phylip and Brad about their posting. She’s that good.

        • Wow! You dug back 26 years to try to smear me with something that went on when I was going through an ugly divorce. You are definitely a fine Minister of Morality. Onward, Christian soldier!!

          • Never complain,explain or blame. A grownup doesn’t quibble, whine or explain. but a democrat always blames. The 4 defense mechanisms most overused by liberals, rationalization, minimization, projection and denial.

          • ie it could be false arrogance but i believe it is more of ol ekaybee just being a ignorant hypocrite………by the way ie it is you who smeared ekaybee……….and not that ekabee is a deadbeat by her own actions…….see that is how liberalism works……blame others……wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…..

          • No, I go back the venerable AlSharpie went back 26 years to exposes your hypocrisy. I plagiarized his fine work. But I’m open minded, understanding and willing to hear your side since I am off your ignore list.

          • First of all, it wasn’t Al-Dumbass that started the column way back when but Magnificent Bill Jackson that pulled it out of his cowardly ass.

            But cutting to the chase, this reminds me of what Al Bundy said when he was beside himself about his rebellious kids.

            He said; “I feel like the Exxon Valdez, One spill and I have to pay for it the rest of my life.”

            You’re paying a price for your misfortune years ago LKB, but I’m jumping on your bandwagon to combat the el-creepos.

            Let-er-rip!

          • OK Reg, I’ll come clean, there is no bankruptcy and never was one.

            I have no idea how my story would change or justify what LKB did, but I took charge of my problems and paid off my debts. It took some battles, doing with out, and a lot of hard work, but I am nearly debt free. I can’t wait to call Dave Ramsey!

            I know LKB says she has done well for herself, so I am sure she must have turned over a new stone in life.

            But then she not only leaves no stone turned, she acts like she is sinless enough to throw the first stone. eg, it’s my Christianity that’s the problem not her irresponsibility.

            Fair enough for you?

          • Aw man, Rolling Stones, cool.

            Get off LKB’s ass so we can get back to normal.

            After all, your religion says man is dominate.

            Suck up, it will do a body good.

          • @ Good Guy “My Morals Only” BB

            Tell your “book of fables shoved between your legs” stories to your pal in censorship LKB. I just helped her leave no stone un-turned.

            Now there’s people for you to censor.

          • @ Reg,

            Meh, My wife says normal is a setting on the washing machine. Like the good oppressed Christian wife she is, my wife knows it’s a man’s world and women rule it.

            Normal left the CCO during the great CP exodus when Ethridge parted the “read” sea.

            I did pretty well until the censorship team of Brains and LKB arrived and decide to be voice of reason and conscience for the CCO.

            When I see an LKB badonka donk showing, I’ll probably boink it with a stone. Don’t worry, she’ll do the same for me, or Tommy, or dveatch, or Phylip, or Brad, or alsharpie, or…

          • @ regulator: Thanks for the support. All that is so far in the past that I can hardly recall the details. I was a newly single mother with five kids to take care of and I got them all reared successfully and never had to take any assistance. In the divorce settlement I got stuck with some things and did my best. If it doesn’t meet the lofty standards of some of the posters here, it really doesn’t bother me.

        • @LKB, “I *didn’t go back…’

          BTW, what does my Christianity have to do with your past?

          • @Indianaenoch,

            Well by most accounts people don’t like Christians because we have a much more defined sense what is really going on in this world while most are spending their time gazing at their belly button lint. So its an easy target for them to attack instead of reality. There is a prevalence of and I quote Adam Savage: “I reject your reality and substitute my own.”.

            Having said that, frankly I don’t know what your Christianity has to do with her past, perhaps once in the past she rejected the offer, realizes the error but knows not what to do to correct.

            I’m sure this post will get a few cackles.

        • The spectacle of a life-long Democrat hacktivist hypocritically complaining about corruption and incompetence in local government…ughhh. It’s like one of these guys driving around in a car spewing a big toxic white cloud who then writes letters complaining about Alcoa’s generator.

          Retroactive props, however, to Vandeveer for dealing with his mistake promptly. It must have been humiliating for him to eject his unqualified patronage hire so quickly, especially as the appointment itself, based as it was merely on slavish obedience to the local Democrat machine, had already generated substantial criticism.

          I really think that Mayor-in-Lurking Weinzippy and Mayor Apparent Winneckezapfel could learn something. Rather than double down on the bad-deal-of-the-day floated by fly-by-night hucksters, they need to perform due diligence up front and cut the losses from the losers ASAP.

  15. Everybody. Please do me a favor.

    Quit arguing with Phyllip Davis.

    You know the old saying: “Never argue with an idiot. He will only drag you down to his level and beat you down with experience.” And: “Never argue with an idiot. After a while bystanders won’t be able to tell who the idiot is.”

    I’m having trouble distinguishing who the idiots are above. But I’m p-r-e-t-t-y s-u-r-e Mr. Davis is the leader of the pack.

    • Truthsquad, please don’t run a censorship campaign on Phylip Davis like Brains Benton and LKB tried to run on me.

      Phylips intentions are noble and his information is insightful, although at times I am concerned that they are misplaced with Parks and Winnecke.

      • Hmm, I hear ya Indianaenoch. In another thread it was suggested I be banned or at least censured. Fortunately the Editor has better sense regarding both of us and any other some wish to pursue such actions.

      • He is building his points up with Winnecke and Parke and is running trouble shooter for Wayne when he does not want to comment and his paid party involved!!!

    • +1
      Reality, and the World according to Phyllip, often clash, but he mushes on, cheerfully exploiting the immunities of invincible stupidity, and is always good for a laugh.

    • Dear, sweet Della seems to have taken a vacation from commenting on the C&P, but I’m pretty sure she has written a couple of jaw-dropping Letters to the Editor. If I’m right, her name is Ellen Sprepski and she occupies a seat on the Housing Authority Tenant’s Council.

        • Ms. Sprepski signed her name to the letters, so she took care of her own reputation. I am only conjecturing that she had posted as “della”, because of the things she wrote and the wording she used. The rest of it is fact. If I harmed anyone’s reputation, if would have been della’s, not Ms. Sprepski’s. I think della took care of her own reputation, too.

  17. Ace Purple says:

    March 1, 2014 at 11:43 am

    Winnecke increasing the business to Faegre, Baker, Daniels right after Weinzapfel took the job by over a half million a year looks as crooked as anything Halliburton was ever accused of. If this is not illegal it should be because no one with a shred of ethics would do such a thing. Are you listening Winnecke? Are you listening Parke? THIS IS BLATANTLY WRONG!
    ===============================================

    Yes it is and the same question should be asked of the pinky shake Democrats.

    • There may have been more than votes committed by the pinky shakers. Maybe fire marshal looking the other way, an unenforceable smoking ban to keep the boat’s toilet paper business flowing to a council member, a couple of retirement enhancing appointments, and even a pot full of gold in legal work for the ex-Mayor may have all been sealed by a pinky shake. Evansville pinky shake dems are about as progressive as Dick Chaney and self serving as Al Sharpton.

  18. Why is everyone worrying about a measly $186k? Obama tips more than that at a dinner party with the Black Muslims the night before an election in Chicago.

    • Not really, but it really is tasteless. Service delivery companies in Evansville started charging a $10 “truck charge” during the Katrina disaster to cover the higher cost of gas and never stopped. A surcharge for an increase in costs whether it is gas or a government mandate is the exact same thing. Not illegal. Most tasteless, especially since it was 20 cents on a $20 tab. The didn’t even get the number right.

    • How’s it any more illegal than any other surcharge a restaurant bills to cover costs? Many have an added fee for larger parties, use of specialized rooms, variances of meneu, times of day that don’t correspond to normal operating hours etc…Obamacare is nothing more than an added cost to doing business and those added costs will always be passed on to the consumer regardless of whether it’s up front or hidden.

    • There’s actually a Georgia State legislator who has been on Medicaid since he (by his own admission) got drunk and had a near fatal wreck when he was in his early twenties. He’s one of the leaders in the fight to keep Georgia’s Medicaid expansion from standing. I saw an interview with the greedy ignoramus on TV the other night.

  21. There is some interesting news up in the C&P. It seems the Ford Center’s deficit for last year was nearly a half million dollars, but the Director says that is “sustainable.” The good news is that the visitors to the Ford Center came from well over 2,000 different zip codes, so there was likely a good amount of money spent here by the people who came here.

    • Well of course debt is sustainable, the local politicians have a ready supply of taxpayers to fill the bucket.

    • Elk,

      Big writeup in the C&P Sunday paper re: the 2013 Operations at the Fraud Center.

      IMO, Russ Lloyd needs to be fired. Only he, the man who can’t reconcile a Bank Account, would go so far as to tell the paper that the Fraud Center had a PROFIT–until the costs from the Building Authority pushed it to a $ 500,000 loss.

      The fine print reveals that the Building Authority does all of the labor to do show setups, tear downs, maintenance, etc. The FC could not operate without this labor. Therefore, the notion that there was an intermediate point where a PROFIT existed is both horseshit and a lie. There is only one line on an Income Statement, the BOTTOM LINE ($ 500,000 Operating Loss).

      • We all knew this day would come. There was no way the Ford Center was ever going to break even. The Weinzapful adminstrations’ projections were pie in the sky at best and outright lies at worst.

        I see the supporter commentators are saying the out of towners spending is worth the $500K annual deficit. I seriously doubt that. What I see is people coming in to downtown for their event and then fleeing ASAP just like they used to do with Roberts.

        To be fair we were between the rock of an old stadium that badly needed to be upgraded and the hard place of trying to figure out where to put an expensive brand new stadium. Aiy yi yi. What to do?

        EVERY plan has negatives and you can’t put up a stop sign or repair a pot hole without adversly affecting somebody.

        In hindsight we should have put the stadium across the street and the hotel where the stadium is but of course hindsight is 20/20.

        100% Agreement on the bottom line part.

        Russ Llyod knows how to reconcile a bank account my guess is he is waiting for persmission from the higher ups to fess up to the “plug and chug” unreconciled difference which rumor has it is several million dollars.

        What a mess.

        • Wow! I hadn’t heard it was THAT much. No wonder EPD officers are not going to be able to cash out their comp time this year. That is, not until they sue the city.

        • . . . and it was John Kish, Arena Project Manager, who was quoted by the C&P as saying the Ford Center would be ‘cash flow positive’ from day 1.

          • I’m sure he’d “spin” and say he’s right, because there was a positive balance until they paid out the county for all of the set up and maintenance fees.

      • That’s how I see it. If the local spending of Ford Center visitors makes up for the loss, we’ll be seeing a half million dollar increase in local tax revenue this year. I’m seriously doubting we’ll be seeing anything near that, if we see any increase at all.

  22. And we think Evansville wastes money.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/01/kentucky-noahs-ark-ken-ham_n_4876282.html

    A 14.4M muni bond offering.

    You can prove mathematically that a wooden Ark the size the christian folklore guides says Noah’s Ark was, it would NOT float. Even with steel(Not invented at the time) reinforced slats and beams it will break apart.

    Further you can also mathematcially prove even the largest US aircraft carrier isn’t large enough to house 2 of every species on the Earth let alone all the food and water needed to keep them alive.

    • Brains: Hell,look at that scientifically,me,two oars,a good sized cooler, a bailing bucket, rain coat, and a twelve foot jon boat.
      And a couple’a DNA samples from every known life form on earth,cheap,effective.

      Ark,snark.

    • Brains, this looks even better than Earth Care and the McCurdy luxury condo project. Can the City of Evansville still get in on the Kentucky Ark project?

      • Biden,

        I believe the actual name of the project is the Kentucky Reimagined Ark Project.

        KRAP

      • @V and R you guys both made me LOL.

        This guy Ham is going to raise nearly $60M in private donations!!!

        This country is so efffed in the head. I’ll bet you couldn’t raise $5m for alternative energy research. Just think what St. Jude’s Hosptial or other charitable organizations could do with $60M freaking dollars.

        • You hit that nail on the head, BB. You have to laugh at the nuttiness to keep from crying about it. When you think about what this country could accomplish with the money spent on things like Ham’s project and on political campaigns, there is no reason for things to be in the mess they’re in in this country.

        • And are you going to give to either the ARK project or research? I haven’t seen an anti-ark style rant from you on the money wasted by Holiday world, Disney land, or Hollywood. Couldn’t that money have went to cancer research?

          It’s not your money, but once again “My Morals Only BB” is spreading his hate telling others what they must do.

Comments are closed.