IS IT TRUE December 30, 2014

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IS IT TRUE WHEN THE PEOPLE FEAR THE GOVERNMENT THERE IS TYRANNY? …WHEN THE GOVERNMENT FEARS THE PEOPLE THERE IS LIBERTY?

IS IT TRUE the City of Evansville has seen two long time businesses close down over the holiday season?…the first closure announced was Raffi’s Restaurant which has been a favorite of the City County Observer and it’s contributors forever?…the closure of Raffi’s is particularly hard to take because Raffi Manna is the prototype of the kind of person that Evansville needs to have coming to town to start a business and become a member of the community?…it is also disturbing because Raffi’s is in a recently annexed Eastside area to the City of Evansville? …the  City has failed to help mitigate the problem of fires in the medians and to install the streetlights that the City promised to install during the annexation process?…in some pro-business circles it will be forever believed that the City of Evansville contributed to the decision to close Raffi’s?

IS IT TRUE the other business that was abruptly closed was the Clarion Inn at the intersection of Highway 41 and Lynch Road?…we have no direct knowledge of why the owners of this hotel decided to lock the doors but in cases like this it is often due to lack of demand?…to have a hotel close over lack of demand at a time that city government is turning backflips and “fighting like the dickens” to give away $20 Million taxpayer dollars to subsidize a downtown convention hotel defies logic?…we have to wonder given the fact that every real business person of knowledge has stated that the downtown hotel should not exceed 150 rooms while the $105,000 city funded consultant confirmed the Mayor’s desire of needing 240 rooms or bust just who is right, those who invest or those who advise politicians?…this certainly confirms the power of money and the infatuation of delusional people with silliness?…the only real truth regarding the downtown hotel is supply and demand?…most knowledgeable people have offered the opinion that the demand for 240 rooms is not there with or without the Ford Center and The Centre?

IS IT TRUE the Winnecke Administration must be listening to the CCO as they have wasted little time in creating a new dream of a two building hotel complex of 5 stories each to replace the 10 story building that is over budget and presumably not capable of being funded?…there is an old rule in construction regarding multiple story buildings and that is the fact that going up costs less than going out?…we wonder just how close to the Motel 6 look these twin phantom buildings are envisioned to be?…as we opined yesterday, if one wants to cut the cost, first get rid of the PLA, then downsize the project to 150 rooms so some real hospitality people will expect success?…this is not rocket science but it is crony capitalism and therein lies the problem with the downtown convention hotel dreams?…at least the backhoe that was placed on the lot for theatrical purposes has gone back to wherever it came from?

IS IT TRUE the shooters of Evansville have nearly ended this year of violence and we have a record of over 800 gunshots reported in the City in 2014?…many of those shots were fired in legitimate walking distance from The Centre?…the corner of Walnut and Kentucky has nearly turned into Evansville’s version of the shootout at the OK Corral with something violent happening nearly every weekend?…the hinterlands are not immune to criminals either as the Habitat for Humanity store just across the Warrick County line was robbed on Christmas?…if this does not sound like the place where the Chamber and it’s parrots describe as a “great place to raise kids” and having a “high quality of life”, that is because it is not?…maybe at one time it was but at this point in time that is not the case?…when it becomes a child rearing paradise again if it ever does, maybe there will be a demand for a downtown convention hotel and the young educated professionals that we so crave will want to live here?

IS IT TRUE Evansville has 10,000 homes that are either abandoned or in an advanced state of dilapidation?…that is about one for every 10 adults?…Detroit has 80,000 homes that are either abandoned or in an advanced state of dilapidation?…that is about one for every 10 residents of Detroit?…there are other parallels but we are feeling nice today and will save the other direct parallels with Detroit for the election of 2015?

Please take time and vote in todays “Readers Poll”.

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52 COMMENTS

  1. I heard it said that Raffi was made an offer he couldn’t refuse to close it up and make way for a new VA counseling center for those who fought bush’s failed conquest and that he intends to open another restaurant. While I agree this town is a shithole, this story is less in line with your gloom and doom narrative.

    • Well, this is what I read, Per Raffi. The tax got to me. Tom, always prone to colorful exaggeration. I think you are looking forward to a counseling center for personal use.

    • I hope you’re right about Raffi selling at a profit, and opening another restaurant. I do know that the business struggled financially for the past five years or so, and a favorable sale would offer him a fresh start.

    • Haven’t heard about a sweetheart deal for Raffi but you could be right. We reported about a year ago on his frustrations with the City of Evansville’s failures to do what they promised with respect to fires in the medians and street lights. It was one of the most entertaining interviews I have ever conducted. When Raffi said “haven’t these $&?/@&$%{ ever heard of using rocks? Rocks don’t burn” we all busted out laughing. The truth of the matter is that the solution is really that simple and in 4 years it hasn’t been done. Raffi’s decision is the culmination of years of frustration with local government. I hope he did get a sweetheart deal. After putting up with all that he has for over 20 years he deserves it.

      Raffi came to Evansville as one of those “young educated professionals” that are craved by cities everywhere. He has been a successful entrepreneur in spite of local government. Now as he approaches retirement age, he has basically said “that’s all I can stand and I can’t stand any more”. That is a damn shame. I guess they can cross him off the list of those who may give Evansville a good recommendation as a good place to do business.

    • Good morning Ghost! Today is December 30, 2014. It is not 2008, and Bush has not been president for years. Raffi’s closing is not Bush’s fault wish you a happy New Years and would suggest your resolution be that you allow Obama to be president in 2015.

      • On December 30, 2014 thousands of families and friends grieve for the soldiers who are still dead, even though the lying war criminal who sent them to war has left office. Thousands more warriors are still maimed and will require care for the rest of their lives, even though Bush is gone. Barack Obama is clearly president and has been long enough to lead the US into recovery from the economic crash Bush led. The stock market is at a new high and gas prices are at a new low since the debacle known as GW Bush left the White House.

        • Yet it was the Nobel Peace Prize winner in Chief who invented the word “just” to describe the expansion of the Afghan war. To call President Bush a war criminal is blatant ignorance to mask your hate for the person. To excuse Obama from doing the same damn thing in a different country is simply blind. I agree with you that the stock owning class (1%) has prospered under Obama’s naive economic policies, mostly from using tax dollars to drive the prices up through QE. Here is Obama’s acceptance speech for the award he did not earn. What can you learn from that?

          http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/world/europe/11prexy.text.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

        • Was your favorite movie Back to the Future? But since everything bad is Bush and good is Obama, what policy of Obama saved us from Bush? QE-Infinity? Rewarding his Rich Democrat supporters on Wall Street?

          • My comment was made in reply to your overly-simplistic “pat answer” that Bush is no longer president, meant merely to point out that the damage he did didn’t disappear with him. Those things will last. If Bush and Cheney hadn’t lied us into this war, Obama wouldn’t be having trouble getting us out of it. I’m hoping that the cowards and fools that sit in congress will at least vote on what to do next.

          • And my comment was made as a reply to Ghost pat answer that somehow Bush is responsible for everything bad. Of course you forget that democrats were for the war until they were against it or that Obama promised to resolve these issues which are now worse than ever.

            Honestly, we have wars that have dragged on longer than WWII or Vietnam. We either need to fight to win or do what it takes to get out of them, but neither the red nor blue team have the guts and we don’t have the guts to do what it takes to win wars.

            Our leaders on the left would rather spend time and energy with hunting for torture to accuse Bush and Cheney rather than getting out of these eternal wars.

        • Gas was a $1.79 when Bush left office. The stock market is up because the Obama 1% is again robbing the widows and orphan funds. People at the lower end, such as myself, see a gradual decline in their stock market funds. I knew quite a few people with some of their savings in the stock market and none of them benefitting. The only ones making a killing are the GOD’s, greedy old democrats.

          • You just got some bad stocks and bad stock purchasing advice. Can’t blame anyone else buy you and your stock broker for that.

        • If we learned anything from and this war is that some people do not have the mental capacity to live in a democracy. We are seeing it in this country, an example is Ferguson, NY, Baltimore, Chicago, La, you can finish the list. Bush and all who voted for the war against Iraq were wrong, Saddam was a good leader for the folks of that country, the same goes for Iran, Libya, Syria and the rest of those countries. They seem to do best when they live under a constant threat of punishment to include death. Democracy works best with certain types of people with certain types of leadership, how do I know this, simple observation, try it. Obama does not understand democracy and neither do his people.

        • So those who die or are wounded in service now are more esteemed because the economy is better?

          • Was that comment meant for me, because if it was, I have no idea of how you drew that conclusion from what I posted.

          • Yes it was, you’re the one who made the transition from Bush’s war to Obama’s economy in your “soldiers who are still dead” post.

      • Look. Bush was a commie too. Obama is just a little bit more of a commie. And Jeb Bush is a total commie too. He wants to let Mexicans become citizens and run for office. That’s ridiculous. We are losing the white nature of America more and more each day. America is becoming more and more brown and I can’t stand it. What in the world is going on these days?

    • Exactly, The CSO. We’ve observed that article as well, and like Evansville and many other locations our plan would work for them, what ever they do, they’d best get at it, Thursday is 2015, like Evansville they’ve let the problem go way past the tipping point.

      “The ‘dump sewage into the Great Lakes’ approach to sanitation should have been left behind a long time ago. ”

      – Joel Brammeier, Alliance for the Great Lakes

      “All models point to bigger storm events in the Midwest. ”

      – Ken Kunkel, NOAA

  3. Evansville also shares Hotel corruption with Detroit.

    One week after Detroit filed for bankruptcy, it was announced that the Red Wings were building a new hockey arena. $ 650 Million cost, and get this: $ 284 Million public subsidy ! (LW: go down and tell the Icemen to practice, practice ).

    More egregious: the Detroit City Council voted to sell the Developer 39 parcels of land for $ 1. Prior to that, private landowners bought up similar parcels in the footprint of the new Arena, and they also got the $ 1 deal, and each parcel is worth millions ! Oh, the private landowners were affiliated with the owner of the hockey team, must have been a lucky guess by these individuals re: siting of the hockey arena.

    http://deadspin.com/detroit-scam-city-how-the-red-wings-took-hockeytown-fo-1534228789

    • About mid-way through this article:

      ” Few fields of empirical economic research offer virtual unanimity of findings,” economist Andrew Zimbalist wrote in 2000. ” Yet, independent work on the economic impact of stadiums and arenas has uniformly found there is no statistically positive correlation between sports facility construction and economic development”.

      Yeah, we found that out Downtown. Did City Council not vet the Ford Center either ??????

  4. The Indy big boys tried to get the Indiana Legislature to pass the ongoing expense, & red ink From the Colt’s Stadium, on to the backs of every taxpayer in Indiana, it didn’t pass, but all the counties adjoining Indy now contribute taxes to keep the Colt’s Palace going, and –somebody rich,–I’m sure Irsay and Company thanks the Peasants and the Politicians before every game with a smile and a toast to the “Dark Side”.

    • So how do you explain the fact that 9 out of the 10 poorest states are governed by Republicans and 9 out of 10 of the richest states are governed by Democrats?

      • That Tuesdays cause rain. What is the correlation? What opportunities are created by liberalism that allows for a higher living?

      • Poorest or richest in terms of purchasing power or just in real dollars? The 10 richest were DC, NJ, CT, MD, MA, AK, MN, DE, CA, and VA. These are all very high cost states so the fact that somebody makes $25 per hour may not mean spit when the cost of living is considered. The 10 poor ones are MS, WV, AL, SC, NM, KY, ID, AR, MT, and ME. 3 of those by the way have Dem. governors including that Beshear dude across the river. These places all coincide with a cheap cost of living. One thing I did notice about your rich states is that these are all places that have a wide disparity in incomes and wealth. Maybe democrat governance is especially good for the blue blood rich folks in the northeast and CA, while bleeding their poor folks to death.

        • Correct, plus most of these states draw a lot of their money from US government employees. Federal employees have an average income of $120,000 per year versus a private sector average of $60,000. These states have the highest ratio of return on federal income tax paid in, basically they receive more than their fair of federal money. These states also have a greater than average number of minorities and benefit/entitlement/welfare recipients which makes brainless career democrats receiving an annual voters bonus. Maryland is a state that is controlled by 1 city, Baltimore, a major sewer system and crime center that typifies a democrat controlled state.

  6. While I agree that the unsightly vacant lot adjacent to the Ford Center and the Civic (Fraud) Center really needs something built on it, and a hotel seems the sensible thing to put there, I don’t think there needs to be a lot of public ado about it. It should be a private enterprise. The public sector needs to concentrate on correcting the sanitation and safety issues that now detract from any kind of private investment there.

  7. Does anyone know the status of the 2013 State Board audit of the Water & Wastewater Utilities ?

  8. LOL, So now its two footprints? “The Double foot, tree high”, phantom hotel slap stuck phantom conventions concoction. Man, another foundation sunk into old Evansville’s downtown low valuation rotten to the core infrastructure, gee’s ………real weak.
    That rumor can’t be a serious conceptualization.
    Like you said “construction regarding multiple story buildings and that is the fact that going up costs less than going out?…we wonder just how close to the Motel 6 look these twin phantom buildings are.” That’s our social economic, environmental analysis as well. And that would include that most building site projections might also sport some usable utilities in the first place, and with an iota of viable logistical throughput commerce to feed the approaches to support the ridiculous concoction from day one of its operation.

    We’d suppose put on that location similar in the balance’s that ONB center, and the ___ord center have sported to date. Zippola.

    You’da been better off just to have paid D-Patrick to move to a more productive area. Then flat out gave’em a couple a million for the moving expenses and left the downtowns lousy logistics and zombie utilities properties too some real privately funded innovators back when this compounding empty goose egg was laid in the first place.

    con·coc·tion
    kənˈkäkSH(ə)n/
    noun a mixture of various ingredients or elements.
    “a concoction of gables, shingles, stained glass, and towers inspired by English medieval houses”
    synonyms: mixture, brew, preparation, potion More
    an elaborate story, especially a fabrication.
    “their story is an improbable concoction”
    synonyms: fabrication, invention, falsification; informal fairy tale
    “the story is an improbable concoction”

    ri·dic·u·lous
    rəˈdikyələs/
    adjective deserving or inviting derision or mockery; absurd.
    “when you realize how ridiculous these scenarios are, you will have to laugh”
    synonyms: laughable, absurd, comical, funny, hilarious, risible, droll, amusing, farcical, silly, ludicrous;

  9. I too do not know why the Clarion Inn closed its doors, but I would like to relate an incident that took place at another inn just north of there over the weekend, Sunday evening to be precise.

    It seems that family booked a sweet sixteen birthday party for their daughter in one of the party rooms separate from the main lobby of the facility. Between 10:30-11:00pm many of the young party goers spilled out of the party room and into the lobby area. They were being quite loud and using the most disgusting language and the hotel guests many with children were taken aback. The management of the facility was overwhelmed. Finally one of the hotel guests used their cell phone to call the police. It was only after the arrival of the police that the situation was brought under some semblance of control.

    I think if Rev. Brooks, or Rev. Arnold, or Harold Calloway had been there they also would have been appalled at the disgraceful language and attire of some of these teenagers.

    They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression, and I am sure that many of the hotel guests will never book a room there again. That is the sort of thing that kills business. That is the sort of thing that causes businesses to close their doors.

    Everyone should have a zero tolerance for this type of behavior. The people involved owe apologies to the inn employees, the hotel guests, and the police department. They did damage to the reputation of the inn. They did damage to the hotel guests ability to enjoy their stay there, not to mention the language that children and adults were forced to hear. They did damage to the reputation of the city of Evansville, when the guests return to their hometowns and relate their experience here to their family, friends, and coworkers.

    Some responsible parents should explain that this is not acceptable behavior in any culture.

    • Sounds like an average night at Hammerheads or The Jungle in downtown Evansville. Pants on the ground, flat billed hats, fist fights, and an occasional shooting has become the norm. Or just down the road at The District, there is a red light district sort of bar that has the same thing going on. Back when Fast Eddy’s was open the same thing was going on there. Someone actually got shot inside the place. There is no hope for downtown Evansville as long as these criminals in training are catered to.

      • Bars have had problems of the sort you describe for as long as there have been bars. It doesn’t matter whether the music played there is hip hop, techno, pop, or country. Alcohol and romance, along with whatever other substances people indulge in tend to bring out bad behaviors. Neighborhood bars don’t fare much better, either. Many years ago, my parents owned a bar in Diamond Villa. There had been more murders there than at the Dodge Inn or Blue Note.
        When things get too bad, the ABC needs to shut them down, but that doesn’t seem to be happening.

    • Apparently you don’t have children or remember being 16. Just because kids know better doesn’t mean they do better, especially at that age.

        • I reared five kids, and they all knew what was acceptable behavior. None of them ever got in any trouble, but I wasn’t fool enough to believe they never misbehaved when they were teenagers.

  10. If parents rent a hotel room for the kids to party in they should be there to monitor the activities or not be surprised when the children are asked to leave. Happens all the time, and youth sports teams are not much better. All of the hotel employees in this town have my sympathy for the drunks they will have to deal with tomorrow night.

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