IS IT TRUE February 10, 2015

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IS IT TRUE the City of Evansville is seeking input from the public on how best to devise a plan to make the roads more friendly for pedestrians and bicycles?…it is encouraging to see the City at least showing some semblance of respect for planning but we have been down this town hall meeting path before without decent results so forgive us if we look upon this with jaded perspective?…from a pedestrian perspective, it all starts with sidewalks and much of the City of Evansville is plagued by sidewalks that are so bad that one can’t walk a single block without encountering missing pieces or discontinuities that are massive enough to cause even the most attentive pedestrian to trip?…the sidewalks have been the subject of a federal consent decree for over 10 years now and not a darn thing has been done about them?…the reality is that Evansville’s sidewalks are in terrible condition and have been for years so any plan that does not address sidewalks is not a plan at all, and any elected official that needs a neighborhood association to tell theme the sidewalks are in bad shape is out of touch with reality?

IS IT TRUE being bicycle friendly is a little bit more difficult to understand in a place that is designed for the automobile with some roads dating back to the horse and buggy days?…one thing that the powers that be need to understand about being bicycle friendly is that a thin stripe of paint added to the side of a road that is too narrow to begin with does not make a safe bike lane?…in the world of bicycle friendliness, size matters?…any designated bike lane that is not at least 4 feet wide excluding the storm drain is not a safe bike lane?…the other and more difficult issue is teaching the driving public how to be aware of bicycles that share the blacktop with them?…the safest bike lanes are ones that do not share blacktop with motorized vehicles and that is much more like a second sidewalk than the paint built bike lanes?…the path that may someday circle the City of Evansville is a good idea for biking and pedestrians and does indeed constitute a good start?…it must be pointed out that this good start has taken more than 15 years to become half reality which doesn’t really reflect a commitment to being bicycle or pedestrian friendly?

IS IT TRUE there is one more thing about being pedestrian friendly that is manifested annually in downtown Evansville and that is the fact that snow and ice removal is part of being pedestrian friendly?…in the year 2015 Yukon Cornelius is still seen occasionally searching for the Bumble in downtown Evansville among the pedestrians who have been planted flat on their butts by snow and ice accumulation?…as we said earlier, being bicycle and pedestrian friendly is a great goal but it is a goal that Evansville is woefully behind on?…being pedestrian friendly also depends on reliable and safe public transportation which the METS is not delivering?

IS IT TRUE the University of Evansville basketball Aces have hit a mid-season slump that may jeopardize their quest to get to 20 wins during the regular season?…the meltdown against Bradley where the Aces squandered a 17 point lead over a less talented opponent AT HOME looked more like last year’s Aces and not the team that was victorious over the #12 Northern Iowa team?…the talent is here for 20 or even 25 wins and a post season appearance this year?…it remains to be seen if that talent will manifest itself into a successful season even though it did start out with a bang?…we encourage our readers to get out to the Ford Center and join the 3,000 die hard fans that seem to attend every game to cheer the Aces to some more wins?

IS IT TRUE McDonald’s announced yesterday that their sales for the fourth quarter of 2014 were off by a full 1.8% from the 2013 performance?…on the bright side, it is possible that Americans have decided to eat healthier and that is the source of the fall in sales at McDonald’s?…on the other side this may reflect a drop in disposable income?…we do not know which it is but we do doubt that the American public has started a health food binge?…the reality with McDonald’s is that food has not been a priority for many years now?…the soul of McDonald’s has transitioned into the process of delivering the food and the mass marketing to appeal to kids who in turn badger their parents into shopping there?

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145 COMMENTS

  1. Perhaps McDonald’s has missed the health craze element known as pork belly. Or for starters they could simply add a week’s portion of bacon to the top of their burgers and fish sandwiches.

  2. Anyone else get mad at the idiots who ride bicycles the wrong way into traffic? You’re supposed to WALK against traffic. This does not apply to bicycles.

    Oh, and fire Marty Simmons….. the program has become a joke.

  3. “IS IT TRUE the City of Evansville is seeking input from the public on how best to devise a plan to make the roads more friendly for pedestrians and bicycles?”

    ~b~ GENERAL CONDITION
    Public Safety is Job Number One

    Riverside Dr from Fulton through to BOEKE Ave is dangerously deteriorated. We’re talking rim bending alignment ruining ledges … lob-lolly patches and a hodgepodge of materials and techniques that have rendered the stretch substandard at best. On a bicycle … Riverside Dr is treacherous and impassable.
    This … true of a thoroughfare that should be in showroom shape. After all … Riverside is our front-door showcase passageway … if it is to be assumed and believed … that the Downtown District, the Entertainment District, Tropicana and the Riverfront Esplanade are integral to Evansville’s image and brand.
    These conditions are no surprise when one witnesses a patch crew at work. There is not one tamping tool on a City patch crew truck. They throw down a pile of cold black gravel … smooth it out with a squeegee and leave it to the public vehicles to bash the pile into shapes … unrecognizable as roadway … most of it lobbed-out … resembling ocean swells … or stuck up under the fender-wells of the public’s vehicles. Would one patch his driveway in this fashion? What’s the deal? Is a tamping tool too much like work?
    I can tell you this … painting bicycle symbols on such a stretch and calling it a bike way is irresponsible at best and something MUCH WORSE in reality. …

    • I agree, The patching of our roads is one of the few things that have shown no innovation in my entire life. Matter of fact it may have been better in the 60’s and 70’s than it is today. When the crews who patch our roads are completed, the road is barley better than if they just left the hole alone and did nothing. It is still much too rough to ride on.

  4. Here we go again……Yesterday the WSJ called out the Tea Party for being ignorant and
    directionless…and all the celebrating after winning the Midterms
    appears to be “celebrating by President Obama” :

    CAN THE G-O-P CHANGE?
    WASHINGTON DC, Wall Street Journal, February 8, 2015

    The Immigration Defeat Reveals a Larger Problem in the Republican Congress

    Republicans in Congress are off to a less than flying start after a
    month in power, dividing their own conference more than even the
    Democrats. Take the response to President Obama ’s immigration order,
    which seems headed for failure if not a more spectacular crack-up.

    How? Still not enough for Tea Party immigration restrictionists who
    wanted a larger brawl, the Tea Party decided to browbeat GOP leaders
    into adding needless policy amendments.

    The House even adopted a provision to roll back Mr. Obama’s 2012 order
    deferring deportation for young adults brought to the U.S. illegally
    as children by their parents. The GOP lost 26 of its own Members on
    that one, passing it with only 218 votes. Whatever their view of the
    President’s order, why would the Tea Party put the GOP into a position
    to vote to deport people who were brought here as kids through no
    fault of their own?

    And, lo, on Thursday the House bill failed for the third time to gain
    the 60 votes needed to overcome the third Democratic filibuster in
    three days.

    Tea Party restrictionists like Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Jeff Sessions
    are offering their familiar advice to say no and hold firm against
    “executive amnesty,” but as usual their strategy for victory is
    nowhere to be found. So Republicans are now heading toward the same
    cul de sac that they did on the ObamaCare government shutdown.

    So Republicans are facing what is likely to be another embarrassing
    political retreat and more intra-party recriminations. The Tea Party
    restrictionist wing will blame the leadership for a failure they are
    responsible for, and the rest of America will wonder anew about the
    gang that couldn’t shoot straight.

    The Tea Party caucus can protest all it wants, but it can’t change 54
    Senate votes into 60 without persuading some Democrats. It’s time to
    find another strategy. If it fails again this time, the GOP should
    move on from immigration to something else.

    It’s not too soon to say that the fate of the GOP Congressional
    majority is on the line. This is no way to run a Congressional
    majority, and the only winners of GOP dysfunction will be President
    Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton .

  5. MORE of the “let’s be stupid Tea Party crazies”:

    POLITICO, February 9, 2015:
    The GOP’s ALABAMA PROBLEM

    Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore’s defiance of a US Supreme Court order on gay marriage is just the latest in a long line of bitter states’ rights fights on issues from school integration to the Confederate battle flag – and the latest potentially embarrassing political sideshow for the 2016 field of GOP presidential hopefuls.

    “There is a feeling of ‘Here we go again,’’’ consultant Carrick said. “Roy Moore’s trying to turn back the clock, which is his specialty. I don’t know what the party’s going to do about these guys. As hard as Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus tries to get the clown car out of the Republican parade, there’s always somebody who comes in in another one.”

      • JOHN,

        I’m a pro-business, Chamber of Commerce, long-time Rotary member farm and business owner Catholic family man….who wants limited government…and for government to STAY out of the private lives of everyone, including telling same-sex couples they can’t get married. (SCOTUS agrees with me on that one).

        JOHN, you strike me as a person who just hates everybody. H-A-T-E in all caps for you.

        Your ideas for carrying out “the final solution” for the poor among us (“V” rightly called you out on that one), your ideas for damning same-sex couples, your Hitler-like comments degrading other ethnicities and people different than you confirm this.

        I have read little on these board MORE DISGUSTING than your hate speech yesterday regarding same-sex couples. And I am stunned that EDITOR let it stand.

        • We are of the same faith, but your post do not showcase your religion in a positive
          way. I’m sorry to say that! I know it is hard not to go off on a small number here,
          but remember, “for they do not know what they do”!

        • Riverfront Sham” – “JOHN, you strike me as a person who just hates everybody. H-A-T-E in all caps for you.”

          Pot, meet kettle.

          Now we all know that the diatribe Sham posts here against Christians and Teaparty folk, involved not one iota of HATE within them is there.

          • Does a page long diatribe against liberals, using numerous logical fallacies, lies, misrepresentations, and putting words in people’ mouths count as hate?

          • Brandon M,

            Big difference. Maybe you know that, as you regularly call out your politically liberal friends no different than I do the Tea Party politicals and EXTREME religious zealots…not all Christians as you lie (I’m a Christian for God’s sake).

            Maybe you don’t understand that, however, as Brandon, you’re too simple minded to understand the most basic of distinctions.

            JOHN uses hate speech and bigotry against entire classes of citizens based on their identification (ethnicity, orientation, race). Those are civil rights groups. BIG difference….little kid.

        • Let me stat it again just for the record: ” Being gay is wrong. Gay is abnormal. Gays are sexual deviants. It’s the way it is. ”

          You will never turn me against God and the Bibles teachings. It is you you are morally corrupted.

          • The Catholics must teach you from a different bible than my church. Perhaps because so many Catholic Priests are protected drunken children molesters. Who knows what we don’t know…..

  6. What was not said:

    The ITT is misleading. True that McDonalds fell that 1.8%, but that is world wide.
    South East Asia was the trouble spot. State side the numbers were fine.

    One would have to compare all of those fast food places for a trend in eating habits

  7. Is it true there is another college that is on the west side that plays in a “non local heavy subsidized” court?

    • UE could built a basketball hall on campus that could hold 3000 fans? Why don’t they do that as they can’t fill up the Ford Center these days.

  8. Just a Reality Check for the Liberals:
    The Republicans currently have: 31 State Governorships (Democrats-18).
    Control of 68 of 98 State legislative chambers.
    Control of both the Governorship + Legislature in 23 States (Democrats have 7).
    The Largest Majority in the US House of Representatives since the 1940’s.
    54 Senate seats, 3 more than needed to use Reid’s “Nuclear gambit”-Whenever.

    Looks like–The Electorate’s verdict concerning Obama and the Democrats/Liberals is rather Stark,
    – and the Democrats/Liberals now cling to “Worn out her Welcome Hillery” to somehow rescue the Socialist’s agenda.
    Time will tell.

    • Yeah, they can crash the economy with their trickle down BS like they’ve done many times before then spend a bunch of money blaming it on the democrats.

      • Ghost,–Your silly reply brings to mind a picture of a puppy chasing it’s tail.
        Take a short break every once in awhile,– it might help with your “dizziness”.

      • Is your trickle down anything like Chris Mathews shiver up? Ma Joad was right about the economy, the liberals will continue to grow and multiple, the big people who work hard and fuel this economy will die. Romney stated and correctly so, that there’s no way we can win with 45% of the people living off the other 55%. That right there fully explains why we don’t have the funds to fix our streets and sidewalks. The moderate democrats are leaving the party to the liberals and the 45%, which are one and the same. The most amazing thing I have seen out of Obama is how he dividing and uniting at the same time, moderate, hardworking, Christian, motivated, self reliant, educated African Americans are moving to the right. By the way, democrats don’t spend money, they take stuff from those who work hard and give it away for the common good, per Hillary.

        • Would it have something to do with top 20% of population controlling
          89% of earnings/wealth?

          This leaves 80% of the population with just 11% of earnings/wealth?

    • Hope history does not repeat itself! 1920’s that is.
      Republic majority as 1920’s, but without the republican president.
      Wall Street Markets unregulated and record stock market.
      The percentage of all money being in 1%rs hands is at same levels as 1920″s
      We do have FDIC, but who puts money in at 0.1%?
      We have foreign entity holding 47% of our public debt.
      We have a $500 billion trade deficit.

    • Yet Obama won the Presidental Election not once but two times in a row. Makes a Radical Right Wing nut go Nuts .. HUH?

      • The first time we had to prove we weren’t racist. Gruber had it right the second time, the stupidity of the American voters. We are really starting see the real Obama since November and it’s not pretty. The democrats are treating him with total disrespect, actually treating him worse than they treated Bush. Bush was a bad president, Obama is bad, stupid, arrogant and silly. Republicans are actually treating him with some degree of respect, just a matter of class.

  9. Have not heard much about that Pigeon Creek Greenway bike/walk trail of late.

    Had we kept Robert Stadium, that concourse would had been a good “one directional” course for recreation use
    during inclement weather. That huge parking lot for the other times.

    As far as sidewalks and roadways, we just went thru a period of time when oil changes were a luxury.
    Is the time ripe to “road tax” those bikes so they have a little skin in this?

    And to who ever organize these running/bike events out in the county that require roadways completely
    closed for a few hours, schedule these outside the farmers busy times! July 10th to Sept 10th is the best
    time frame! It was a cluster f**** the other spring.

    • Does anyone know Al Lindsey’s position on trying to reopen the 6th Ward’s Mesker Amphitheater?? I really thought Mr. Lindsey would be taking the point on addressing the obvious political closing (perceived competition for Ford Center for concerts) when the repairs to Mesker for “potential code violations” are estimated at only $100,000. It is very hard to understand why the City Council sits on their hands instead of fighting to reopen this community treasure for the taxpayers.

      “The venue, which borders the Mesker Park Zoo, was shut down this year due to potential code violations. Evansville-Vanderburgh Building Authority Manager Dave Rector said renovations could cost about $100,000.

      “But as you see in this year’s budget, that money wasn’t set aside,” Rector said. “It (the amphitheatre) definitely could be brought back.””

      http://www.courierpress.com/news/local-news/mesker-hed-herppppp

      • $100,000? Isn’t that the same amount of money Kelly Coures “found” to give to the Owen Block developer? Seems like they could “find” some more or at least let the Mesker group fundraise.

      • I get so tired of this post. Don’t you think if it was really just $100k, the place would have been up and running last summer? The cost estimate that the Zoo Director went out and got was around $12 million. The stage and canopy was between $5 and $6 million. The state law changes after the stage collapse at the state fair created pretty big hurdles. The canopy is about rigging and holding the equipment that acts want to bring in. The other issues are largely about ADA compliance. Without adding the second set of bathrooms and concessions that were in the estimate, it would be a minimum of $8 million for Mesker to reopen. That’s the reason it sits closed today. There’s no excuse for you spreading such misinformation. This plan from the Zoo was presented to City Council and covered in the media.

        • Why am I not surprised that Joe the fake-o is operating from a vastly misinformed position/POV.

        • r, Did you not see the quote with link to the C&P article that $100,000 was the estimated cost to reopen?? Aren’t you now tossing around “cost estimates” for major overhauls to Mesker including new stage, luxury boxes, etc. In an effort to keep Mesker Amphitheater closed, the best strategy is to get sky high “cost estimates” for all types of needless over-improvements (remember Robert’s Stadium?). News flash. Mesker is an amphitheater largely made up of concrete with no roof. It does not have to be fancy. It just has to be functional and open for use. Hello, Mr. Lindsey??

          • Yes, I can see what Dave Rector has to say. I also know that the stage collapsed at the state fair in 2011. Your article comes from May of 2012. The law has changed. Also, Rector’s opinion turned out to be not grounded in fact. The ADA compliance issues with handicap accessible seating, entrance, bathrooms, etc. came in around $2 million in the proposal put together by a firm with the actual expertise to do the work. The stage came in at $5 to $6 million. This response to the Zoo’s request for an estimate was done in 2013. Dave Rector was only talking about cleaning the place up. He was talking from the perspective of making it comply with current law. Obviously, you missed the City Council meeting when your very points were made and questions asked. The Building Commission can’t allow the stage to be used in its current form. The canopy is not about weather, it’s for rigging. Why don’t you remember Roberts Stadium and the acts that wouldn’t book there because the roof couldn’t hold their equipment? You have no idea what you are talking about, and reaching to a quote from Rector in 2012 is crap.

          • Why is it Lindsey’s fault that the Administration got an estimate for $12 million? What’s he supposed to do? Hire a crew to bust in and make $100k worth of repairs? How is he actually supposed to combat what you consider to be an overpriced estimate? There’s no one that wanted it open more than Amos- the guy who got the estimate. He was going to get the revenue. Now all he gets is the cost of maintenance.

          • I agree it has to have a new stage and upgrades to the bathrooms to comply with ADA. Who said luxury boxes? The Ford Center manager admitted that Mesker would be a bigger draw in the summers than the Ford Center, and that Mesker could get acts that wouldn’t even consider the Ford Center. I don’t really see where there’s value in keeping it closed or overstating the cost for repairs. No one is trying to build a new amphitheater, and it’s wouldn’t be competing with the Ford Center. This is nothing like Roberts Stadium.

          • Mesker amphitheater is an asset, under the right usage planning its a hidden goldmine. Letting that asset sit flat is a shame.
            Anybody that sports any reasoning other than the amphitheater operation would further demonstrate the siting of the __ord center as a colossal blunder of growing magnitude is simply badly misinformed , or a liar.

        • r, please provide a link to the Mesker cost estimates that you are referencing. Thank you.

          • I’d love to be your secretary but give a shit about your opinion I do not. Call Amos at the Zoo and ask him yourself.

          • @r: Thank you. I get so tired of the geniuses who can only see from the right wing demanding that other posters do their research for them. I guess they think their eyeballs will melt if the read anything more realistic than The Blaze.
            I don’t think it ever occurred to JB that he may possibly be wrong about anything.

          • r, I gave facts in article quoting cost to reopen Mesker Amphitheater. You gave rants about millions of dollars with zero supporting facts. Somehow $100,000 to reopen Mesker became a claimed $12,000,000. The cost to reopen Mesker went up 120 times after the Roberts Stadium seating was stored there? Sure, that is believable.

        • r
          Feb 10, 2015 at 11:44 am

          I’d love to be your secretary but I don’t give a shit about your opinion, I do not. Call Amos at the Zoo and ask him yourself.

          elkaybee
          Feb 10, 2015 at 12:11 pm

          @r: Thank you. I get so tired of the geniuses who can only see from the right wing demanding that other posters do their research for them. I guess they think their eyeballs will melt if the read anything more realistic than The Blaze.
          I don’t think it ever occurred to JB that he may possibly be wrong about anything.

          =======================================================================

          That was a thing a beauty!!

          • No Brains and LKB

            You two were made for each other, maybe you may celebrate Valentine’s together ???

      • Why don’t you go up to him face to face and ask him for yourself? That way he will know it’s you asking the questions.

  10. Sell the Ford center to Tradersbakers and build a high rise RV Park for a hotel. It would attract more people downtown. Then focus on sidewalks and lighting. I have said for years that side walks do the most to change a cities ambience.

  11. The current governor and its party is continuing waging war on the duly elected state education position
    that is held by the opposite party. Undermining the duties that were held by all previous elected in that
    position. This movement also undermines the voice of the state wide voters. The current governor claims
    it will reduce turmoil with his “appointed” cronies.

    What is not said is this governor “CREATED” the turmoil with his new appointed board to undermine
    that lost position!

    Question is, as a voter, is it ok to appoint cronies at the expense of elimination of the voters voice?

    Do we see in the future that we only vote for a governor, and then the governor appoints the
    legislative branch at his pleasure?

    It is reported that the governor has eliminated some of the state testing that he set up because
    of the time frame!

    Good grief! Let the duly elected Ritz do her job, and you focus on your exit out of here!

    • Yes, CCO not mentioning this travesty is proof they are Pence shill hacks.

    • Ritz has been using the Riecken flee method to perform her elected duties. I voted for her but regret it.

        • She walked out of a meeting and would not appear for others. They were unable to conduct business because she is obstinate.

          • What do you expect when one is pinned back on their heals eight months after starting a job that was consistent for the past 150 years, by school yard antics from the governor who was licking his parties wounds from that lost position?

            Who could operate correctly in that new snake pit? Conduct business?

            Why did the governor disband his mistake? (effective after this legislation session)

            Why did the governor retract some of the his school mandated testing?

          • I expect her to stay and keep working. The board’s complaint was her missing deadlines and meetings. That is not doing the people’s business. When someone files a lawsuit then working together is in the past. Pence is also elected to a job and has the right to take actions to get accomplish the task. From what I have read Ritz has had a my way or the highway approach and that was not I expected when I voted for her.

            I would say Pence disbanding the CECI is an attempt to move forward. http://in.chalkbeat.org/2014/12/04/what-comes-next-for-ritz-pence-and-the-state-board/#.VNoYtdLF-iM

          • Did you vote for Pence to upend the State Board of Education?
            Would it had happen if the (R) had won?

            The my way/highway can be applied to Pence as well
            by stacking the deck?

            Why did you vote against the (R)? Apparently he was doing a
            job with “Mitch” intrusions that was lack luster?

            Was the Pence “task” to revenge that party lost?

            Pence disbanding shows school yard antics?

            Does a wrestler go on defensive moves to minimize
            damage, when the opponent throws in a 800# gorilla?

          • They all have an agenda Arms. Pence is Governor and we have a republican legislator, so Ritz’s obstinance did not go well for her agenda.

          • The rethulicans do indeed have and agenda

            Dismantle public education by slowing starving them to death, then declaring them a failure
            Turn them into private schools that only the rich can afford
            The private schools will of course be owned and operated by rethuglican donors and paymasters
            The lower classes will attend christian pole barn madrasses where authority is not questioned and every one worships people like Mike Huckabee the dear leader of the lunatic christian right.

          • Lobbyist changing structure of government.
            Would it make more sense that we vote
            for the Indiana State Chamber of Commerce
            President? Appears that is who running this
            state!

          • Bent, if you would put your talent with straw towards baskets rather than strawmen you would have one of the most popular booths at a flea market.

    • With a quick google on the internet, spells out what political lobby is pushing this hard!

      INDIANA STATE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

      Railroading the public school system into privatization!
      A win-win for it’s members, sloping at the hog trough!

      • You hit that nail on the head. Pence and Co. would love to do away with public education, because an ignorant electorate is what they depend on. That’s why they are letting public education deteriorate. Glenda Ritz is dedicated to bettering our schools, so they have to get rid of her some way.

        • It would not hurt anyone if they did away with Public Education. It has done nothing but cost more and more taxpayers dollars and produce generations that are less intelligent, less prepared for the real world and less motivation to work, than the one before.

          Make schools private, where teachers have accountability and parents can choose to move their kids if a school fails to provide the necessary tools for success in society.

          What the majority of public schools are today, in many cases, are daycares for the parents and subsidizers for the teachers union and indoctrination devices for the liberal agenda (Ie…Common Core).

          • Here it is. Pure ignorance with a keyboard….Brandon M. What a mess of a comment. The foundation of the United States has been based on a commitment to public education for all. What idiocy BM.

          • We pay more and more for education and receive less for it. What do these liberals fear in parents having school choice?

          • There are many in our area that sent
            their children to their school of choice.
            I was one of those parents as well.
            Difference is that our group did it on
            their own dime, not the hand out
            from the government being pushed now!
            If fact, we saved the school system a lot
            of money by putting our children thru
            private christen schools! May be that’s the
            answer, require all churches to furnish
            schools for their followers children!
            We always hear about those moochers
            on the government teat. But I guess it is
            different when it benefits them!

        • Public schools
          public housing
          public assistance, all the same. Our children deserve better. Parents should be able to use the tax dollars set aside each year for their child’s education in a fashion that is best for the child and their family. Public education is not about education, it’s about indoctrination. Like unions, public education has run its course, time to move away from the liberals love affair with communism and join the 21st century. Russia tried it and it didn’t work. Apparently the liberals are trying to re invent it.
          Where is that Pro Choice belief the liberals are so fond of celebrating. The liberals only want Pro Choice if it’s the choice they pick for you. Nothing strikes fear in the hearts of liberals worse than a private education which creates thinking citizens. A thinking citizen is not a liberal. Thinking hard working democrats are leaving the pack. Without thinking democrats who will get out the vote?

          • Pov would be happier with a generation of moron kids who believe the earth is the center of the universe and it’s 4000 years old. Every other developed nation has public education and the vast majority have a free equivalent to college. Backward thinkers like you are the reason the world laughs at us. You are a bona fide idiot.

        • Pence can’t get over the ass whipping he got from Ritz. She received more votes for Supt. than he did for Gov. He was upset because his bed partner Bennent got beat and he has been fighting with her since day one , blaming her for everything . He is just another POS in the governors chair.

  12. McDonalds may be down but it comes from competition, they’ve been out of touch with comsumers too long. Places like Chippolite and Pannera are killing them. Red Lobster and Olive Garden are barely in business from not keeping in touch with changing trends.

    • Wonder how our local “Hornville Tavern” is doing these last few years?
      Don’t have to worry about those newbe’s out here!

        • Barbequed gems dullard, “everybody knows that”, you sport politics over science in one of’em they’ll just sport you the fat.

          • I believe the locals in the north, make that precint A1 to be one with the highest voter turnout and a lower than average strait ticket voters. We do our research, support who we find best and stand proud. A non-informed voter is one who should have stayed home.

          • No! it is not location, etc. This trite saying is for the brain dead.

            Think atmosphere, attitude and service.

            The Nesbit Inn, Hornville, Dogtown, The Log Inn, The Hilltop Inn and quite a few others are not exactly on the beaten path, but they are packed most of the time.

  13. “the sidewalks have been the subject of a federal consent decree for over 10 years now and not a darn thing has been done about them?…”

    If we follow the pattern we’ve set with sewers, we’ve only got about 40 years before it’s addressed. Of course, Evansville will be gone by then, unless things change radically for the better. There will be a lot of lawsuits over broken bones in the meantime, though.

  14. I lived in a city where the homeowner was responsible for sidewalk repair. You did not own the sidewalks but were still responsible for the repair and upkeep within the width of your property lines. I have seen people here replacing sidewalks themselves that can afford to do so. When you see a nice stretch of sidewalk in between bad ones you realize how nice it wuld look with new ones. Maybe our local leaders should take a field trip around town to open their eyes.

    • I believe that is the case in Evansville, but when people can’t afford to repair sidewalks, we end up with a worse case of some nice mixed in with some deteriorated. Sidewalks would do more for the city than an arena.

      • The sidewalk in front of my house had a slab tilted up about 2 In. When you stepped on it you could feel it move. I called the city and they explained to me the city will pay half and the property owner pays half. They told me it would run about a $100.00 a foot. So my part would be $50.00 a foot. Only problem is you have to do the full width of your property, in my case 37 ft. So my cost would have been $1850.00. Then they told me mine wasn’t bad enough. So I called Jerry David and had the 15ft. needed to be replaced for $500.00

        • Shows that people don’t need local government as bad as local government needs you!

          $125 in concrete
          $375 labor/equipment for removal, and poured back.

    • Where was they responsible for the “Repair”? Most cities designate home owners to keep it clean and free of obstructions, snow, or ice, but to have to pay for repairs for all the various reasons, well, i just don’t see it and i’ve lived in some pretty far out liberal/socialist places, like Cali.

      • I am not making it up. I just researched to check if this was still the case. Yep, but worse. They just passed a city sidewalk ordinance requiring neighborhood’s that did not have sidewalks now have to build them. Guess who gets billed? The property owner. They are working on a five year payment plan idea with interest for residents. Isn’t that nice of them?

  15. The whole “bike lane” ado is a bad joke. I’ve seen the ones on Lincoln near UE used some, but other than that, I believe I’ve seen the one on Oakhill Rd used once. Evansville is a fat, miserable place and people don’t ride bikes regularly. The planned bike lane on North Main is a really ridiculous. Bike lanes do not bring back neighborhoods. Affordable middle class housing, convenience to shopping, entertainment, and jobs do that. This plan is just a way to spend public money. Many of the business owners that survive on North Main would rather have on-curb parking instead of a bike lane.
    A lack of use likely a good thing, considering what the powers-that-be call “bike lanes” are. They are too narrow to be safe and make no sense with the way they just suddenly end. Bike paths on the Greenway and in parks are quite another matter, but they seem to be taking a back seat to the newest scam to spend money stupidly.
    SEWERS AND SIDEWALKS BEFORE BIKE LANES!!!!

    • I am with you on sewers and sidewalks before bike lanes. If they are truly worried about the health and growth of the city. Poor sewers are a real health hazard. Nothing like a nice bike ride through the sewer overflow.

    • I’m with you on this one Laura.
      Bike lanes would be nice but on impassable roadways with sidewalks so bad that folks have to walk in the street .. they are uncalled-for and dangerous. …

      • Earlier today I had the dubious pleasure of crossing town from the North Main area to the Oakhill-Lynch area via Virginia Street/Oakhill Rd. Because of the conversation on CCO, I paid close attention to the “bike lane” on those streets. At Hwy 41 & Virginia, the bike lane is a too-narrow strip between the right turn and straight ahead lanes. It contains dirt, gravel, and broken glass. Just east of the intersection the bike lane crosses a lane of traffic with no warning to motorists except for a “dotted line.” It is littered with gravel and dirt for several blocks.
        It’s a good thing that these lanes aren’t used. My guess is there would have been injuries or fatalities by now if they were being used. At least where there are no bike lanes, there is no false sense of safety, so bicyclists and motorists are likely more alert to the other’s presence.
        It appears that our bike lanes were planned haphazardly and are not maintained at all. There is such urgency to spend money, so contractors and unions make political donations, that all good sense is tossed out the window.

        • Those are just cronies Fueling BS junk to retain some urban transportation money for further conies fueling. ” Everybody knows that,” but did you know where people really could cross town effectively pedaling a bike they sport little or nothing…………

          • “conies” sorry need an edit feature we all know cronies funding was the sported comment.

            • Conies (rabbits) according to Sam Gamgee are great in a stew with taters. To the Shire!

            • We swears you are right. We swears on the precious. Civic Center can look much like Mordor from a distance.

  16. The entire town is crumbling beneath our feet. Most people realize, support and understand the need for updates and replacement costs. What they don’t like or understand is the Mayor giving out subsidies to millionaires for things like EarthScam and the Downtown Hotel while our city falls apart around us. The Hotel is a disaster and the silence and previous dishonesty from the Mayors office regarding it makes it feel like more shenanigans are going on behind closed doors with this project. Where is the transparency? Why does this project feel so wrong now? Silence is corruptions accomplice in most cases.(I hate to use corruption here but for lack of a better word)

    • Projects like hotels and arenas give plenty of room for corruption. That’s why politicians like them so much, has nothing to do with the public good, quality of life or anything else. The hotel project is barely even in remission, it is in some perverse form right now, percolating right under any effective transparency. The more bewildering a program seems to be the more difficult it is for the public to rally against it.

      We’ll have a chance to change mayors before long. We must take it. Might not get any better at this point but it likely won’t get worse. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

      • If the voters of Evansville keep the current administration, they deserve what they get!

        • Same if we elect Gail. Mark my words that she will accomplish to our demise what Winnecke has failed to accomplish. The 20 million on the table will be her’s and more will appear. There will be no real plan or vision. Gail is just another part of the machine. Remember I said that because it would be a pleasure for me to say you were right and I was wrong.

          • Oh we definitely will remember just like you saying the courts couldn’t or wouldn’t use the equal protection clauses to strike down same sex marriage bans.

        • Like Gail is going to do better. It doesn’t make any difference who gets elected mayor, the results will be the same. The current mayor is null and void, at the very least he has kept Evansville from getting worse. If Gail is elected it will be an extension of the last 12 years. If you keeping on doing what you’ve always done you keeping on getting what you’ve always got. That’s a short history of Evansville and the democrat party. I’ll bet if Weinzapfel decided to run against Winnecke you’d go all out for Weinzapfel.

  17. Stupid Liberal Legislation Nearly Brought Down World Economy

    http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/hotproperty/archives/2008/02/clintons_drive.html

    Foreign governments that were holding large blocks of these bogus Mortgage Backed Securities were quick to contact our federal government demanding their money back. The resulting dog and pony show put on by Henry Paulson, Ben Bernanke, Alan Greenspan, Tim Geithner, Larry Summers, and Robert Rubin secured the illegal robbery of the American public in order to pay back these foreign governments and hopefully avoid a world wide currency collapse.

    All of this happened because a handful of liberals in the congress were able to push through legislation that any accountant could have told them was doomed to failure.

    • There was a documentary call “Inside Job” which I recorded from the Pivot (197) Dish network.
      Seen some of it. Looked like they trashed both political parties and Wall Street.

  18. Here’s an idea. Charge bike riders for a bike license and then use that money to run the bike licensing and then use the left over money to build a bike lane in the alleys. The alleys could stand some updating.

  22. At the end of 2012, was it a violation of Indiana statute for outgoing mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel to hand over to incoming mayor Lloyd Winnecke city financial ledgers that were not, and could not at the time, be reconciled? The answer is yes. Was it a violation of Indiana statute for mayor Lloyd Winnecke to accept those unreconciled financial ledgers? Yes it was.

    Did Lloyd Winnecke, in January of 2013, have any idea of the actual financial health of the city of Evansville? Obviously he could not have.

    Did the Indiana State Board of Accounts basically punt the ball on the recent audits? Yes they did. Has a generous amount of time been granted to this administration to come clean with the public. Yes it has.

    Has any local or state prosecutor or grand jury shown any interest at getting to the bottom of Evansville’s finances? No they have not. Is this allowable under Indiana’s constitution? No it is not. If no officials will act on behalf of the taxpaying citizens of Evansville, is it time for the citizens themselves to file a class action against city and begin a discovery process of their own. Yes it is.

  23. Well? I guess the fine folks of Newburgh can start jumping for joy. Debbie Dewey has announced that she will be a VP at American Water. I can see it now, “We need $200,000 to fund a start up venture manufacturing water pressure let-down machines that create surplus electrical energy. Ken Haney told me that they work.” (Actually, these devices exist. They’re called hydroelectric dams.)

  24. And you should know Joe, as you yourself don’t live under carbon Larry’s ,or Indiana’s jack booted utility valuations. That a- hole Ellsworthless is squarely centered right in the middle of that rippage. What the hell?
    What the hell is going on there in southern Indiana, we see and observe the coming balances.
    Those idiots cannot fathom what to come. Real sad.

  25. Armstrongres
    Feb 10, 2015 at 8:05 am

    What do you expect when one is pinned back on their heals eight months after starting a job that was consistent for the past 150 years, by school yard antics from the governor who was licking his parties wounds from that lost position?

    Who could operate correctly in that new snake pit? Conduct business?

    Why did the governor disband his mistake? (effective after this legislation session)

    Why did the governor retract some of the his school mandated testing?

    ====================================================================

    Stop making sense!!!

  26. Givemeabreak
    Feb 10, 2015 at 9:54 pm

    No Brains and LKB

    You two were made for each other, maybe you may celebrate Valentine’s together ???
    ============================================================================

    Our reservations were pilfered by Sheldon Adelson and the Koch Bros.

    They wanted you to join them also. They said the broomsticks were ready all ready splintered and just waiting for you in the Reagan suite. Brandon M, Joe B, IE, POV, Luther, et al they “invited” you too.

    BOHICA!!!!

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