IS IT TRUE? September 30, 2011 Special Evening Edition

15


IS IT TRUE? September 30, 2011 Special Evening Edition

IS IT TRUE that we understand that Vectren has held meetings with both candidates for Mayor of Evansville this week to discuss the excessive difference in rates that are paid for electricity in greater Evansville as compared to every neighbor that we have on both sides of the river?…that the recently misunderstood request for an increase of $1.08 per household to make coal burning more efficient was also discussed?…that we also understand that Vectren brought in the heavy hitters to sell their position including former Vanderburgh County Sheriff and House of Representatives member Brad Ellsworth?…that it is our expectation that after speaking with both candidates for Mayor that Vectren will find some way to convince both candidates that things are just fine in River City and that Vectren shall not be an issue of any kind in the upcoming elections?…that we will patiently wait for the October 21st campaign contribution disclosures?

IS IT TRUE that we have not heard many reports regarding the shape of the parks in Evansville in the last couple of months?…that we wonder if all is well in our parks or if people are just worn out with trying to do something?…that a small area of the south side has erupted with what is being attributed to a gang skirmish this week?…that there have been 3 instances of shootings in a period of 48 hours?…that with a very few exceptions that the neighborhood seems very reluctant to talk about who the shooters have been?…that some of these neighbors legitimately do not know but that others are afraid to talk about it?…that a very wise woman posted a quoted from the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. on Facebook today that goes like this?

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”

IS IT TRUE neighborhoods that fall into a pattern of violence do so very quickly?…that without the assistance of the neighbors in cleaning up crime that the police whose job it is to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of random violence have their hands tied?…that the mantra of nearly every police department in America is “to protect and serve”?…that we beg and encourage the good people of the south side neighborhoods who are victims of this senseless behavior to rise up and conquer their fears and to work with the authorities to make their neighborhoods to be the type of neighborhoods that all of the residents of Evansville will feel safe in and proud of?

IS IT TRUE that today’s Wall Street Journal reports that the fracking technique that is being used in oil and gas extraction may very well double America’s oil production in our lifetime?…through accessing federal lands and using advanced extraction methods like fracking there are some experts who are projecting that the United States may become self sufficient with respect to energy without supplementing our grid with what are now traditional alternatives like wind and solar?…that if people who SHOULD HAVE BEEN in the know 3 years ago would have actually been IN THE KNOW that misguided federal investments in things like Solyndra would never have even been considered?

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

15 COMMENTS

  2. Vectren brought in heavy hitters who have sold their positions — to Vectren. Ellsworth has sold his soul for a bit over $300,000 a year and rumor has it that Johnny W will have his nose in their trough in January.

  3. We need strong leaders that will stand up for us and not wimp out when the bullies apply the preasure.

    • You know Ron, you’re right. The only thing is is that the bullies seem to be the crony capitalists fostered by the Democrat Party.

    • Not that I disagree Ron.

      But I find it very ironic, a “Riecken”, is lecturing us to stand up… When Gail infamously fled to Illinois to huff and puff.

      She may not be related to you, but running away and crying is the Evansville Riecken leadership style, isn’t it?

      Speaking of Gail, where is her voice in this Vectren issue? (She campaigned on it.) Wonder if she got bought off, to look the other way, too?

        • “Taking a stand”, by running from a quorum? Sure, she took a stand. But there is no question, she had to RUN AWAY to do it.

          Isn’t that tactic the manipulation of democracy?

          Remember, if the police would have found her in the state, they could/would have escorted her to the statehouse… THAT’s why it had to be OUT OF STATE. To be sure to avoid LAW ENFORCEMENT! If you think that’s the way a “strong leader” operates, that’s up to you. I don’t.

          Oh, I know she’s been *talking*, before. I’m just wondering why I haven’t heard a comment about this new rate bump, or why her and Davis don’t meet? (I’m wondering if Gail is pro or anti Kennedy club. Can I assume by her silence letting Davis stand up against Vectren by himself that she is anti-Kennedy club?)

          • Gail Riecken has been and continues to be consistent in her stand against Vectren’s abuse of Southern Indiana rate payers. Start to finish she has stood on our side.

            Her participation in the out of state protest by Democrat legislators has nothing to do with her stand against Vectren’s abuse of rate payers, and you’re just tossing that into the mix as an attempt to discredit Gail Riecken. I imagine if there were a Democrat majority in the Statehouse, and Tea Party Republicans fled the state to squash a quorum, you’d be okay with that, but that’s another argument unrelated to this discussion.

            Whether Gail Riecken wants to associate herself with the JFK Club also is another non sequitur to the discussion of Vectren’s abuse of rate payers. And the fact that Rick Davis has jumped on Gail Riecken’s anti-Vectren abuse bandwagon just proves the popularity of Gail’s stand against Vectren’s abuse of Southern Indiana rate payers.

            Keep up the good work, Representative Riecken!

          • No, it’s not a non sequitur.

            I’m simply deducing that some politicians talk, for talk’s sake. Others are focused more towards issue driven action, yet others are stalled by numbers. If someone that has been talking a big game, in isolation, suddenly has another voice in the wilderness… in politics, typically they team up to join the message.

            However, Davis, is well known to have caused disruption in the party… So I’m assuming by Gail’s silence either:

            A.) Her Vectren concerns are more talk than anything. (It is strategic to “appear” to, stand on the common guy’s side.)
            B.) She is a “mainstream democrat”? (I.e. will not ally with the likes of a rebel like Davis.)

            You can point out what you want about hypotheticals of the Tea Party…

            But you know if this kind of intra-party feuding was happening on the Republican party, it’d be getting more press.

          • I think it is a non sequitur, but I’ll take you at your word without asking for further explanation how a procedural tactic by Riecken and other Dem. legislators is related to Riecken’s Vectren position or her political relationship to Davis and the JFK Club :::scratches head:::

            Yes, some politicians talk just to hear themselves jabber, or in an attempt to garner face time. But I’ve known Gail Riecken since our 36 y/o daughters were in the Nutcracker together as pre-teen Dance Theatre kids. Gail has strong opinions on many things, and takes action based on her convictions. That’s my experience with her, so I take her at her word politically.

            Now, I do take issue with your analysis of Dem. politics. You seem to think like a light switch … on or off, black or white, yes or no, etc. I’ve been politically associated with principle players in both the Mainstream Dems and the JFK Club Dems (not to mention all stripes of other Democrats not associated with either group), some of them since 1976 when I first got into local politics. I’ve seen and been directly involved in huge rifts in the Democrat party before (ie Vandeveer era, Brenner/Willner, et al), and the current rift was manufactured from uncontrolled egos far more than philosophical differences or ethics, believe me. That’s all been blown way out of proportion to come up with cover stories.

            And like Gail Riecken, there are many longtime Dem. officeholders and activists who may have opinions and are taking actions but remain unaffiliated with either the JFK Club or the Mainstream Democrats :::raising right hand:::

            Don’t try to put all Democrats in a shoe box or paste labels on our butts, okay.

            You need to understand that in Democrat politics there are many in betweens rather than hard extremes.

          • Well, I understand that a lot of the “career” Dems have directly or indirectly left us with one hell of a mess… that seems to go unrecognized?

            We seem to be left with a lot of promises, debt, graft and cronyism, that a lot of “career” Dems seem to like to ignore or to try to blame on others?

            If you can’t see that “procedural tactics” or lack of action can potentially reveal true convictions, we just don’t agree. But my original point about Gail was the IRONY.

            I thought the middle of the road Dems at least should have been honestly concerned about all the Indiana dollars flowing into Illinois… but no, more silence.

            But in general, I think, the population is recognizing a pattern where all you lefties decide to gang up and pounce on an issue or not. When you pounce, you use any and every tactic available, legal or questionable. In that respect, I realize, that modern Dems do rip every box that tries to contain them… (Constitutions included)

            But even when you feel like you don’t have a “label”, then someone may say you’re just eating your cake and having it too… ?

  4. Didn’t Vectren do the same thing when Weinzapfel was first elected? I could be wrong, but my recollection is that they cut a similar deal with him: major campaign $$$ and promises of future employment in exchange for looking the other way.

    I sincerely hope that at least one of these candidates will have the cajones to say “no.” Vectren is just another of the carrion feeders feasting on the remains of Evansville’s economy.

  5. Evansville is lucky to have the CCO. No other publication or group with the sole exception of John Blair has the nerve to take on these suckers.

  6. God knows the two least credible human beings in Indiana are Ellsworthless and Whiney-zapple. Five cents given to batos like those two politicians by Vectren are five cents wasted: Nobody gives a rat’s butt what Whiney and Ellsworthless have to say.

Comments are closed.