IS IT TRUE? February 28, 2012
IS IT TRUE that we respectfully suggest that EVSC school board should have sent the recently recognized students with scholastic achievement to the USI Science and Engineering Fair that had more than 600 projects entered?…that we suggest to our alleged intellectually-based EVSC administrators that the 5000+ students sent to an ice hockey game would have benefited more from this truly academically-based Science and Engineering Fair at USI?…that we respectfully suggest that the intellectually-based EVSC administrators take a look at our most recent CCO poll results and see what how our readers reacted to this very subject?
IS IT TRUE that the off-track betting center Indiana Downs stood before the Evansville City Council last night and made an economic argument that they should be granted an exemption to the recently passed smoking ban that takes effect on April 1st?…that their representative was oblivious to the fact that two readings and a vote had been held previously?…that the Indiana Downs representative admitted to “dropping the ball†when it came to showing up to ask or even apply for an exemption before the widely publicized February 13th vote by the City Council?…that to come before council after “dropping the ball†that Indiana Downs claims could cost them 20% of their revenue would not exactly inspire any private investor to be prone to invest in this business?…that Indiana Downs is currently under the protection of a bankruptcy proceeding and has been since April of 2011?…that one fact stands out and that is that Indiana Downs entered bankruptcy at a time that smoking was pretty much a free for all in its facility?…that if Indiana Downs is not granted an exemption and proceeds to emerge from bankruptcy as a profitable business that anti-smoking advocates will be claiming that banning smoking saved the place?…that the bankruptcy trustee can take this issue into consideration as having material relevance to Indiana Downs financial capacity going forward?
IS IT TRUE that this will be something to behold as it unfolds as any Tom, Dick, or Harry who owns a 2 stool bar could make the same argument that Indiana Downs made last night?…that some small bars actually did not “drop the ball†and made that same argument on or before the February 13th vote?
IS IT TRUE that the silence about the McCurdy Convalescent Home for Bats and Pigeons is deafening?…that another winter has nearly passed with nothing of any restorative nature happening with the historic McCurdy?…that the McCurdy continues to stand as a monument to local government ineptness?…that we seem to have lost count of the days since the self congratulatory announcement was made that restoration was secure?…that the taxes on the McCurdy that were due last November 10th are still not paid and that another installment will be due in 2 short months?…that as spring approaches and the sun shines a bit more on this historic piece of Evansville property that the grass will begin to grow, the former mayor’s beanstalk will sprout leaves, the rats will come back and the snakes will follow?
IS IT TRUE that the Murray State Racers are back in the Top 10 checking in at #9 in the country?…that with tournaments coming up there is a very real possibility that the Racers will be ranked in the #5 position on selection Sunday if they can take care of business in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament?…that if not for that one slip up with Tennessee State that the Racers would be ranked #3 right now and possibly looking at a #1 seed in a regional?…that they may just pull out a #2 seed anyway if the conference tournaments go their way?
RE: McCurdy: lest we forget, the City gave Centre City (or was it City Centre, it’s just a blur) an $ 800,000 GRANT, paid in advance of any work being done, on this project. Erstwhile ERC Commission President Bob Goldman, in referring to the grant said something like ” if we need to get our money back . . .”. MEMO to current group of ERC: umm . . . yes . . . we do need our money back.
Also, a lot of recent talk about “equal protection” under the constitution. How can we limit the McCurdy Convalescent home to just bats and pigeons ? What about owls, starlings, sparrows, junkos, blue jays ? Should we have left the old Executive Inn standing for them ? Could an argument for NOT demolishing Roberts Stadium be to have an avian sanctuary on that site ?
and a perch for the rising stars of Evansville, the PARROTS OF PROPAGANDA
“IS IT TRUE that the off-track betting center Indiana Downs stood before the Evansville City Council last night and made an economic argument that they should be granted an exemption to the recently passed smoking ban that takes effect on April 1st?…” (CCO)
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Is it also true that the “exemption” part of this whole smoking ban fiasco is nothing more than “special legislation” that is forbidden by Indiana”s constitution? The last paragraph of the following text could not be any plainer. You can not hand out special legislative goodies to businesses just because they are greasing the skids of local government. In my opinion, the AZTAR exemption is not worth the paper it is written on from a constitutional viewpoint.
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Indiana Decisions – Special laws
City of South Bend v. Kimsey, et.al. (Ind.S.Ct. 1/15/03).
Boehm, J.
In a much discussed opinion issued earlier this year, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled:
Article IV, Section 23 of the Indiana Constitution prohibits special legislation where a general law can be made applicable. We hold that this provision is violated by a 1993 law applicable only to St. Joseph County and permitting a majority of landowners in an affected area of that county to block annexation by a municipality.
Here is a quote from an Indianapolis Star story dated 1/17/03, headlined “Court challenges hundreds of Indiana laws”:
The state’s highest court ruled Wednesday that an annexation law that applies only to St. Joseph County violates the Indiana Constitution’s prohibition against special or local laws. Legislators routinely circumvent this by writing bills listing only populations, and not the name of the city or county. But the Indiana Supreme Court, which has sanctioned this practice in earlier decisions, said that isn’t good enough anymore. Yet the justices offered little guidance on how lawmakers should proceed.
To the contrary, however, this decision builds upon the Court’s earlier rulings, and provides an explicit set of criteria to be used in crafting future legislation.
The constitutional provision at issue is Article IV, Section 23, which provides the following limitation upon the Indiana General Assembly:
Section 23. In all the cases enumerated in the preceding section, and in all other cases where a general law can be made applicable, all laws shall be general, and of uniform operation throughout the State.
[Access all of Article IV here.]
The Court states that the terms “general law†and “special law†have widely understood meanings and cites Black’s Law Dictionary for the following definitions: A statute is “general†if it applies “to all persons or places of a specified class throughout the state.†A statute is “special†if it “pertains to and affects a particular case, person, place, or thing, as opposed to the general public.â€
USI’s Tri-State Science and Engineering Fair isn’t until March 8-9.
Why the heck isn’t the City going after the benefactors of the McCurdy grant to get this money back?!?! We must INSIST that other “grants” like this upfront include a provision to get money back from those individuals personally or commercially for ANY city assistance in the future if the “deal falls through.”
Murray lost to Tennessee Tech not Tennessee State.
Get the $ 800,000 ‘grant’ back from the Indy hooligans for the McCurdy. Roberts Stadium is burning through $ 73,000 every four months, or around $ 220,000 a year. With $ 800,000 of ‘found money’ in the till, we can take almost four years, if needed, to make the right decision on Roberts Stadium and not cost taxpayers one thin dime !
Nope. It was Tennessee State and that loss was avenged last week. They have beaten Tennessee Tech twice. Here is a CBS story about the season. http://eye-on-college-basketball.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/26283066/35008114
“IS IT TRUE that this will be something to behold as it unfolds as any Tom, Dick, or Harry who owns a 2 stool bar could make the same argument that Indiana Downs made last night?…that some small bars actually did not ‘drop the ball’ and made that same argument on or before the February 13th vote?”
1. City Council should determine the real per capita boarding fee assessed and collected by the City from each person who boards the Aztar gaming barge, and
2. Then pass an amended smoking ordinance that sets the same per capita entrance fee for adult venues wishing exemption from the comprehensive smoking ban, and then
3. Collect an entrance fee assessment for each customer entering an adult entertainment venue with a city-issued tobacco smoking permit.
Now, under this ordinance, the only venues allowed to acquire a tobacco smoking permit are those that also have an Indiana alcoholic beverage license, restrict their customers with an age limit of 21 years or older. No restaurants or other entertainment venues allowing persons under the age of 21 to visit, service, or work inside would be issues such a permit.
The City would benefit by additional revenue such as that currently collected from the Aztar barge, and would avoid an expensive law suit.
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