IS IT TRUE February 3, 2014

33
Mole
Mole

IS IT TRUE February 3, 2014

IS IT TRUE the mayor of Jasper says employers in his city are trying to fill 700 openings?…the jobs are available at companies including Kimball International Inc. (Nasdaq: KBALB) and JASPER Engines & Transmissions?…Terry Seitz says the Dubois County city leads the state in terms of employment and labor rate participation? he also says continuing efforts to make Jasper one of the greenest areas in the Midwest will help it compete with larger cities?…Jasper is working with Atlanta-based Twisted Oak Corp. on a plan to convert the existing Jasper Coal Plant into an environmentally-friendly Clean Energy Center?…Seitz says the project will create up to 70 jobs with a total annual payroll of up to $3 million?…Jasper also partnered with Clean Cities Friday to host a seminar. The event focused on the benefits of Compressed Natural Gas?…another company that has seen growth in Jasper County is Masterbrand Cabinets Inc. The company has announced plans to invest more than $1 million in new equipment and add 135 jobs this year?…a Clean Energy Center and 700 job openings is certainly preferable to parks and games?…perhaps one of the larger cities that Jasper is poised to knock the tar out of in the competition for good jobs is that fun and games republic of Evansville?

IS IT TRUE after all was said and done for the month of January the City County Observer ended up with a 56% internet traffic increase over the previous January?…in January the number of unique users from the Evansville area grew to over 14,000 as per Google Analytics which is more votes that was needed to win the Office of the Mayor or any City Council seat in either the 2007 or 2011 elections?

IS IT TRUE the people of southwest Indiana are on the verge of another rate increase from Vectren Corporation?…this time it is not the electric bill that is being raised it is the gas bill?…the basis for the rate increase request is the infrastructure upgrades of $800 Million to improve the transmission of natural gas?…with 700,000 customers this increase alone over the next 7 years will amount to $1,143 per customer that works out to $163 per year or $13.60 per month?…that does not include financing charges or return on investment that is often nearly as much as the basic cost?…the infrastructure may well be needed and natural gas may be the bridge fuel to the future but the people of Evansville’s ability to bear these costs, the sewer upgrade costs, sidewalks, roads, water pipes etc. are making this part of the world quite expensive to live in from a utility perspective?…it wouldn’t hurt so much if earnings here were on par with other expensive parts of the country but setting ourselves up to be high cost, low wage is not exactly making the quality of life better?

IS IT TRUE the City of Evansville is paying nearly a Million Dollars a Year in worker’ compensation costs?…these costs are substantially all related to workplace injuries?…we are glad to see that our wounded civil servants are being taken care of but are surprised at how high the cost to do so has become?

IS IT TRUE with Arizona’s loss and Wichita State’s big victory over our hometown Evansville Aces the Shockers should be moving up to #2 in the Coaches poll?…they were one shot away from becoming the only undefeated and top ranked team in the country?…it is becoming more and more probable that the Ford Center will be hosting a matchup between the Aces and the #1 ranked team in the country and that may just be a first?…the Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde Aces had Wichita State on the ropes in the first ten minutes of the game Saturday and built up a 15 point lead before coming back to earth and losing by nearly 20 points?…we hope that when the Shockers come to town that the hot shooting Aces show up for the whole game and take down the only undefeated team in America?

IS IT TRUE we finally ask about the Super Bowl where the Seattle Seahawks humiliated the Peyton Manning led Denver Broncos by 43 – 8, “how about that defense?”…if there was ever a Super Bowl that proved the old adage of “offense sells tickets but defense wins championships”, this was it?

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33 COMMENTS

  1. Maybe Tom Spangler of Jasper isn’t such a bad option for replacing Buschon, after all. If he’s a “mover-and-shaker” in a town that is doing that well, he might be our man. The local coal interests aren’t going to like him much, though. They’ll probably call in the Kochs to back Buschon even though they’d probably rather have the further-right perennial candidate.

    • It’d also have the desired effect of taking BoJangler out of consideration for any spot in the Indiana legislature, where he could actually do some damage. Send him to Washington for one term, long enough to be crippled by the disease in the house, when properly neutered pull him back. By then Buschon might have acted on his childhood desire of becoming a fireman.

  2. Shouldn’t you be angry about them wanting to generate power without coal?

  3. Vectren should not be allowed this rate increase. The citizens of Evansville are already facing higher water utility rates because of the woefully inadequate water and sewer infrastructure. Evansville is already becoming blighted as jobs are lost, and the education level of its population is among the lowest in the state and nation. Allowing this utility a rate increase in a worsening local economy while Vectren utility leadership continue to reap disproportionate salaries and benefits can only breed class warfare. Citizens should not have to subsidize the cost of doing business for any private enterprise. Vectren needs to step up and be a good local citizen about this. They just look greedy.

  4. Isn’t maintaining the pipes just part of the business? If I have to replace the roof on my house do I go ask my employer for a raise to cover it? Disband the Daniels crony IURC.

  5. The need to upgrade natural gas infrastructure is due in large part to the transition of many electrical power plants from coal-fired to natural-gas fired. Natural gas is much cheaper now compared to coal…and coal is about as dirty as you can get for a fuel source. The natural gas networks were built primarily to distribute to a consumer network. But the explosion of fracking produced natural gas has reduced prices so much that it competes with coal as fuel for electric utilities…but the natural gas distribution network infrastructure is insufficient and incapable of carrying that kind of volume as utilities increase consumption.

    So…you get this upgrade infrastructure request to be able to ship more to electric utilities.

  6. vectren continues to show why we need the indiana coal gasification plant in rockport…..vecteren is against this because it puts a cramp in their monopoly game……….the good paying jobs in a obama economy our local abundant indiana coal there is no reason not to build…….

    • Coal’s problems have to do with coal being dirty and there are a number of other fuel sources that are getting cheaper…AND they aren’t as dirty.

      There used to be a trade off with coal. It used to be that, of course, coal was the blackest, dirtiest fuel you could use…but we would all over look that because coal was cheap. But natural gas is cheap now. And it turns out…it is everywhere in the rocks under the ground in the United States. THAT is coal’s biggest problem.

      it’s really dirty. Just go to Beijing and try to breathe….worst place to live on the planet because of coal smoke filling the air (to live there…you must wear a surgeon’s mask to go outside).

      The coal industry blames whoever is in the White House for coal’s problems. They used to blame Bush. Now they blame Obama. If Huckabee is President, they will blame Huckabee.

      Coal’s problem is natural gas being cheap. It’s that simple.

    • Are there TWO of you, or did you make a “typo” concerning your name? Are you “tommtromo” or “tommyromo”?

  7. If they actually repair the infrastructure I have no problem with this charge. Although as the Ghost of Tom Joad says it should be built in to the cost already. I have said here before the local utility has been run on the cheap for at least twenty years. So you got what you paid for.

    • I think you are right about the way the City has dealt with the water and sewer utilities. Vectren has charged us plenty to cover routine maintenance of their grid, though. They are two very different entities, you know.

  8. There is more about Jasper that should be an example.
    They built a new sewer treatment plant and refurbished
    sewer lines in 89 – 90 when federal money was available.
    Built a new water treatment plant in 05 .
    They own all utilities – water,gas,sewer & electric .
    With a healthy industrial base they can afford a large
    Park & rec department that maintains 2 golf courses ,
    little league sports complex , grist mill, train depot neighborhood parks , river walk & other walk paths and senior center http://www.jasperindiana.gov/department/index.php?stuctureid=17
    That power plant was built in the late 60’s
    when Jasper was making their own power till the 80’s
    when industry outgrew its generating capacity.

  9. How much of that infrastructure work do you think VECTREN’s wholly owned subsidiary, Miller Pipeline, will be getting?

    All of that work should have to be bid out to the lowest qualified bidder if they expect rate payers to pay for it!

    ___

  10. Maybe you should ask Shawn Oglesby, Brian Webber, or Jim Lis(all firefighters, each with legitimate worker’s comp claims that have been denied) how well our city is taking care of them.

  11. Go work there if you must but don’t try to live in Jasper. Nothing but pretentious snobs. They will make your life miserable as an ousider.

    • Evansville’s Pretentious Snobs,–that run/define the town’s political landscape,– will make you wish you didn’t have to live there as well.

      • Exactly. The editor likes to call out cronysim here but is fawning over Jasper. It’s just as bad or worse there, and the good ole boys are tight knit.

        • Yesterday was the first time in the history of the CCO that Jasper has been mentioned. We got a press release and decided to use it. We are hardly fawning dude. Old boys are tight knit in nearly all of the Midwest and the South.

  12. jasper is and has always been full of hardworking people that took pride in their city……a really friendly and well kept area……..also right outside of jasper in the town of ireland is the best fried chicken around it is a little place called simply the chicken place…..it is well worth the drive……..and a great place to raise a family……..

  13. The reason I brought up the Jasper utilities and city government was that the attention to capacity and low utility rates was a combination that encouraged present businesses to expand and has attracted new businesses.

  14. I applied for an IT job at Kimball Electronics, a position for which I was well qualified. Despite almost 20 years in the field, they would not interview me as my resume was missing one technology. It would stand to reason a 20 year IT profesional, experienced in 100’s of technologies, could learn one more?

    The recruiter I was working with had proposed many candidates to them for this position, I was the most qualified and I couldn’t get an interview. He was flabbergasted.

    As it is with many companies these days, they want the taxpayer to train their employees. Companies used to invest in their employees. These days, they won’t hire anyone without an EXACT skill set payed for by the tax payer. If you are exactly what they want, you are expected to jump for joy at $35k per year with 1 week vacation AFTER a year.

    Companies of the world, stop bellyaching, train your own employees and pay them something. You want skilled IT to come to Jasper? You’re going to have to pay them.

    As for me, i’m glad I didn’t get the job. I now have a GREAT position for more cash and a better environment than Evansville or Jasper.

    Kimbell, best of luck getting high quality IT people for $35k a year with no vacation and marginal benefits.

    • Nice,Good to hear of your IT success!

      Having a healthy,affordable and ” well maintained basic infrastructure,is a moniker,for open market growth in this century. An evolved connected information system provides the user and the 21st centuries job candidates an advantage in the quest for life’s needs and expectations . [prospected residents, and infrastructures revenue producers”.]

      Having an governing body that is built with the same openness to evolve with that,is,also a locational,or regional asset.
      As I see this from afar,southwestern indiana and some other regions throughout the state of Indiana, are presently stifling their own evolution required to achieve any approach to pass that set of “self inflicted boundaries.”

      Like,an lifting body such as a “leading edge wing surface” on an aircraft how that is presented to the slipstream and the angle of attack is affected by “innovative boundary layer controls” this can in fact increase the operational benefits of the lifting bodies design per is use,and applied conditionals.

      So actually using that example,holding due,to a regions abilities to adapt and evolve with its so called self imposed boundary layers is a very good touch point asset in ones personal well being per career point locations.
      Don’t blame you at all for moving on to a more balanced landing field,clear horizons,encourage more takeoffs.

      Someplace,as sustainable,as,having a good all weather approach,good tower operators,providing clear communications,plenty of ramp space,cleared taxiways,viable hangars,good deicing crews,and revenues available per useful load as cargo or passengers,vs a lousy CG balance with to much extra “baggage” at your lifting bodies effective leading edge,balance points.

      HelloChildren:

      You should have,used the,screen up wash, GoodbyChumps .

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