Open Forum. Thanksgiving weekend 2014

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30 COMMENTS

  1. From the Nov. 28th IIT, concerning the possibility of local protests in support of the protestors in Ferguson:

    “IS IT TRUE if this peaceful protest become a reality don’t be surprised to see local law enforcement bring out the “Guardian” surveillance vehicle to monitor the peaceful protest of the people?

    Based on the tone of the above, and based on repeated reference by the CCO to EPD ‘tanks’, etc., I take it that The Editor does not feel it is appropriate for LE to use any type of recording equipment at these types of public gatherings? It follows that The Editor also believes that EPD officers should turn off the body cameras which the CCO specifically stated support of, in order to not conduct onerous surveillance of said peaceful protests? Does The Editor encourage ALL participants, including local media, to not record any portion of said protests, or only EPD? If shenanigans ensued during said peaceful protests (and I genuinely doubt they would), would EPD be allowed to use footage from any stationary cameras in the area (ATM or building securigy film, etc.), or would that also be considered onerous surveillance?

    Similarly, in order to avoid hurt feelings or any whiff of oppression, should there be an assumption on the part of public safety officials that such demonstrations will be peaceful, and therefore no officer presence should be in the area unless they are called? If so, should there further be an assumption that ALL public gatherings will be peaceful, and things like the Shrinerfest and Fall Festival (or gatherings by Westboro Baptist or KKK rallys) should not have additional officers assigned to them? Is this in the best interest of public safety? Will The Editor refrain from lambasting LE for not doing enough to prevent problems if this wish becomes reality but there are in fact shenanigans?

    • Wow. Some one has a bur under their saddle. Looks under the saddle and actually finds a bur. 🙂

      But you do make some good points. Police get criticized all the time no matter what they do. I guess you just have to grow some thick skin if you chose to be a Police Officer and try to help people by protecting them from the bad guys.

      People act differently when they get together and form a big crowd. Some of them will get the feeling that they are untouchable and can do what ever they want to do. I hope that’s not the case. Because they would be wrong. They will be dealt with if they get out of line. And I say the sooner the better.

      Marching around town proves nothing and changes nothing. Why waste your time. Although I do guess it’s good exercise and can burn off some FAT.

      We have enough problems in this community these days and we don’t need to add anymore problems to the mix. The police have better things to do that to watch a group of people marching around the town in mass. There are real crimes to solve such as the murder that occurred just the other day and all the shootings that are taking place in the gang areas of this town.

      I say let sleeping dogs sleep and don’t wake them up if you don’t have to. What went on in Ferguson, Missouri has nothing to do with New York or Evansville, IN. Unless we have a Michael Brown like guy who wants to go rob a store and try to fight with the police when they arrive to arrest him. But that the problem. If people didn’t break the laws we would not need the police now would we?

    • Calm down DB. The “peaceful protest” referred to by CCO has NOTHING to do with Ferguson or Michael Brown. It has to do with protesting the pervasive political corruption that seems to ringing the death knell for Evansville. I really would like for you to cite a couple of quotes to back up your observation that the Editor is “lambasting LE for not doing enough to prevent problems..”.

      • ‘Calm down DB. The “peaceful protest” referred to by CCO has NOTHING to do with Ferguson or Michael Brown. It has to do with protesting the pervasive political corruption that seems to ringing the death knell for Evansville”.

        Er…..

        *goes back and rereads the purpose of the protest, removes some of burr from under saddle*

        Thanks for pointing out my reading comprehension fail, folks… OK, so MAYBE I spazzed out a little bit, but I will restate my question about what The Editor deems an appropriate amount of LE presence or surveillance at an ‘our local government sucks’ rally, or any rally for that matter. Clearly parking a repainted Brinks truck in the area is a bridge too far?

  2. DB, one small correction, bro, this was in reference to a proposed protest in March “…the focus of this event shall be targeted at the out of control and liberal spending habits of local city government,” not anything about Ferguson. I think the quote “IS IT TRUE WHEN THE PEOPLE FEAR THE GOVERNMENT THERE IS TYRANNY? …WHEN THE GOVERNMENT FEARS THE PEOPLE THERE IS LIBERTY?” was added to indicate that an “appropriate” amount of OK but to send an assault vehicle to a peaceful protest is above and beyond the level of force necessary. Chuck Norris said it as well as could be stated when he said, “the Second Amendment was designed for tyranny… If the government decides to become a tyrannical government, our guns are to protect us against that”

  3. Darn, wish there was an “Edit” feature – meant to say, “that an “appropriate” amount of protection by LE is OK”

  4. The Fantasy of Lights was vandalized again this year,–not sure, but I think this is the 3rd time in as many years, for sure this was the 2nd time. Did the City consider any game plan to minimize the chance of this happening again? Just wondering.
    Maybe some “Game” cameras high on a few trees could have captured images of the perpetrators that would aid in identifying them, maybe not,– for sure there needs to be some discussion on possible solutions to this now almost chronic vandalism,– or the displays always be imperiled.

    • When I was still in HS I worked with some kids from that part of town. They were not the best kids in the City. In fact they were little scoundrels and would break into the pool at Garvin Park at night and they stole eggs out of the walk in cooler at our restaurant. So it does not surprise me that people are vandals out there in that area of the city. I’m not sure why they do those things but they need to grow up and stop.

      I agree that areas of high crime need video surveillance cameras installed. Even some fake cameras placed around the park might help to detour crime. I saw where Lowe’s or Home Depot sell fake video camera for this purpose. 🙂

      • I really don’t know how long ago you were in HS, but I would point out that the vandals don’t necessarily have to live in that area. Teenagers these days are pretty mobile, and the display gets a lot of publicity, so a lot of people know it’s there.
        I do hope you realize that the brush you paint the young people who live in the area with is a very unfairly broad brush. I had the privilege of working with “disadvantaged youth” from all over this city for a long time, and I can tell you that there are very good and very bad ones everywhere. The vast majority of them are somewhere in between, though. Sadly, they have to deal with attitudes like the one you display, in addition to family and economic challenges.
        All those things aside, it is really distressing that we have this happening yet again. I hope the responsible parties are found and that they are subjected to some serious community “shaming” as a part of their punishment.

        • I hope that the kids you mentored will teach the other’s what’s right and what’s wrong. I could use a different paint brush but I don’t think that would stop the vandalism at the Fantasy of lights. Video cameras need to be used to figure out who the culprits are so that the brush of justice cold be a fine brush that’s pointed only at the people doing the damage without getting any justice paint on the innocent ones. How’s that ? Better?

  5. It might work here:
    The City of Dallas, Texas passed an ordinance stating that if a driver is pulled over by law enforcement and is not able to provide proof of Insurance, the car is towed. To retrieve the car after being impounded, they must show proof of insurance to have the car released. This has made it easy for the City of Dallas to remove uninsured cars.

    Shortly after the “No Insurance” ordinance was passed, the Dallas impound lots began to fill up and were full after only nine days. Over 80% of the impounded cars were driven by illegals. Now, not only must they provide proof of insurance to have their car released, they have to pay for the cost of the tow, a*$350 fine, and *$20 for every day their car is kept in the lot.

    Guess what?
    Accident rates have gone down*47% and Dallas ‘ solution gets uninsured drivers off the road *WITHOUT* making them show proof of nationality.

  6. I see that Evansville is quickly making up the four-incident deficit of violent crime in 2014 that it was showing a couple of weeks ago. There was a murder late on Thanksgiving night in the Powell and Elliott area, and the tragic murder-suicide at Devonshire Gardens on Friday. Holidays always seem to exacerbate emotions. That pushes people to act on feelings of love, and we see many touching displays of generosity that are seldom seen at other times. Unfortunately, feelings of pain and loneliness also push people to terrible acts of vengeance against others and self-harm, as well. If you know somebody who is going through a hard time this season, please give them some extra time and care. If you sense a serious desperation, do all you can to get professional help for them. You just may give someone the best gift of all, a “tomorrow” with some hope for a future that would have been forever ended in one instant of pain.

  7. City Administration coverup, Part 1 of 2:

    There was an Is It True on the CCO site on October 9, 2012. It was captioned ‘IIT October 9, 2012 (Quips & Comments about AuditGate)’ . At that time, ‘AuditGate’ was referring to the 2011 Disclaimer of Opinion for the City, which had been issued in September 2012. The IIT referred to the City Council meeting the prior evening, October 8, 2012.

    Is it true that today (11-30-14), pulling up the City Council archived meeting minutes on the City’s website, one finds that virtually all of the ‘quips and comments’ published by CCO pertaining to the October 8, 2012 meeting have been sanitized out of the minutes ?

  8. City Administration coverup, Part 2:

    The ‘Is It True’ for October 16, 2012 dealt primarily with the City Council Meeting of October 15, 2012. The CCO recorded numerous statements from that meeting, including statements by Jenny Collins, former City Controller, that “my bosses knew the books were not balanced and the software didn’t work”.

    Is is true that today, 11-30-2014, there is no record whatsoever on the City’s website re: the fact that a City Council Meeting was held on October 15, 2012. I.e., it was as if this meeting never happened. At the meeting on October 22, 2012, the Council approved the minutes for the prior meeting, but that motion referred to the meeting held October 8–not the “ghost meeting” of October 15, 2012.

    CCO: please repost this IIT from 10-16-2012, so everyone can see what has been censored.

      • Also, here’s a partial list of the ‘comments and quips’ from the IIT on October 9, 2012:

        “It was caught last year and it is important to note this is resolved” City Attorney Ted Ziemer (architect of the Earthcare Energy Contract)

        “This is not completely resolved yet” Controller Russ Lloyd (30 seconds after Ziemer said it was resolved)

        “the adjustments appear to have changed the cash balance by about $30 Million” John Friend
        ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

        Gosh, the $ 30 Million number sure sounds familiar ? As in 2012 SBOA Audit plug ????

  9. C & P: big article in ‘Local’ section today (Sunday, 11-30) re: a candidate for office named Michelle Mercer. She is a personal friend of Winnecke’s pseudo-wife, they walk together downtown (and pick up trash). She has ran five times in 3 years, according to the article. If she runs this cycle, it will be for City Council, either in the 5th or at-large. She is an unabashed supporter of Winnecke and the downtown efforts.

    Gosh, did Winnecke place a bullseye on Friend’s back ?

    Also, will C&P offer such glowing and human-interest type reporting for other candidates ? This lady probably got the equivalent of $ 20,000 of free advertising today.

  10. I noticed on Television that there is only about 100 people protesting in St Louis over the Mike Brown Incident. But the media is like this is the only thing going on in the city. There was a report that there have been more murders in St Louis than this time last year. I dont understand if they was “Justice” how about justice for all the homicide victims in St Louis?
    I dont fault the parents for their outrage over the incident. NO Parent wants to bury a child. But I have questions and wonder why some things have not come up. The media has not reported on Brown background. ( I know the robbery of the cigars). How long have Brown’s parents been divorced. No child hood friends of Brown have come forward or been interviewed. Nor has a school teacher come forward to tell of interaction with Brown during school. No pictures have surface with Brown and his family at picnics,ball games, christmas or Thanksgiving gatherings. No pictures of him smiling enjoying life as a kid.

    If “Justice” is wanted how come no one has question or have the police arrest people that stated Brown was shot in the back or that the officer kept shooting him when he was down. According to autospy report those are BOLD face LIES.

    Why would Brown FIght. The officer was still in the vehicle. Brown was a 18 years old. The officer was still in the vehicle. Brown could have or should have run. The officer was still in the vehicle. If the other man with Brown ran the officer would have to pick and choose who to chase after. 50/50 chance of getting away. I cannot understand that no one recorded the incident. Gee whiz You cannot walk down the street or driver anywhere without some one playing with their phone.

    The coalition of 50 different organizations that wanted the Police to agree to the rules of engagement. Why didn’t they come forward after the Violent Riots of the 1st night and in a loud and strong voice condemn the actions of the criminals that set the fires and that were shooting the guns. There was a story on KMOV tv St Louis that the clergy was too scared to come out to help with the crowds due to them being threaten. Who in the heck threatens a clergy person.

    My sympathy is with the owners of the businesses that were vandalized or set on fire or looted by the criminals.

    I would like to address the protestors using the American Flag. I realize that its supposely under free speech that they burn it,walk on it, or do whatever they want. I hope that karma happens to them. Something they respect or hold dear is destroyed and they cannot do anything about it.

    Officer Wilson is a victim in this case. People want officers to do the best that they can. Police officers are picked from the human race. I would like for some of the protest leaders to come forward and be asked how many people have you recurited to become a police officer.
    Some people bring up how many people that police officers have kill and have never been charged. You can talk to nurses or anyone that works for doctors. Doctors have killed (most of the time unknowingly) more citizens each year than police officers. They either failed to give them the right medications or not give them medications or made mistakes during surgeries. But they and police officers are human and mistakes are made.
    POLICE OFFICERS HAVE A RIGHT TO DEFEND THEMSELVES. When incidents like this happen and the lies are spread around( officer shot him in the back or stood over him shooting) it catches on like wildfires on social media and then the lies are expanded even more.

    I pray for peace. I pray that people will TALK and LISTEN. There is too much yelling and not enough LISTENING.

    • Your perceptions of and your contribution about the ongoing Ferguson actors is spot on.

      I forward the contention that the silence of the myriad of potential voices reflecting on the perpetrator’s past is because of a baser fear of the small but shrill progressive mafia that is finding itself effectively and repeatedly neutered.

      SNIP . . . . SNIP !

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