Open Forum Weekend February 7-8, 2015

137

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137 COMMENTS

    • County Customer, bill due 2/13/15:

      8,000 Gallons Usage: Net due $ 129.92. Says the “mandate” is $ 18.32. What is happening to that mandate money, since no action is being taken on CSO ? Will we soon see the EWS Downtown Hilton ?

    • I guess the Winnie Wigglers haven’t figured out how to spin this and turn it into a positive. Eventually the C&P will tell us how good for us higher water/sewage bills are.

      • If It’s going towards fixing the CSO problem and updating our infrastructure, the higher bills ARE good for us.

        Now, as to whether the money is ACTUALLY going towards that…

        • DB
          As I understand … the City co-mingles revenues in such a way that they are un-accountable. This enables abuses across the board. As far as I know there have been no approved plans or ongoing progress on the CSO’S. I suspect the sewer/water rate increases will plug some clandestine gap in the hidden workings of the Evansville shell game. The increases that are to come due to real CSO remediation will be on top of these latest rate increases. Perhaps the City will use these revenues to plug a gap in the Convention Hotel funding?.
          Would this be “SNEGAL or SNILLEGAL? …

        • That candidate is straight old Evansville machined as well . The template will not allow her to do a gosh danged thing about the real problems in that town. The deal is to keep the cronies feed line going. Always was, always will be . Who actually keeps these low value employees sported when there is no session?

          http://www.poshgirlvintage.com/bmz_cache/0/0985406825a61652366fc7e7262a1385.image.300×479.jpg

          What ever the cronies fuel line allows that’s about all you can expect.
          Nothing more , and certainly everything less.

          http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Womens-Color-Blazer-Jacket-Suit-Work-Casual-Basic-Long-Sleeve-Candy-Button-/261437589979?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=560322434775&hash=item3cdee509db

        • We deserve this. The last decent mayor we had was Russ Lloyd, the last good mayor we had was McDonald Jr. When all the big shots were coming into Evansville to get that new money making ball park built Russ was all for it. When he realized the financing plan hinged on using the COIT as backup to pay for it he backed out. I remember distinctly that he stated, I will not do this to the citizens of this city. McDonald understood the effects of business on the larger community, he worked to get the boat and to bring Toyota to this area. He left off with a very large surplus. Weinzapfel has brought this city to it’s knees. Some of the people who voted to allow the COIT to be used as a backup payment for the arena are still in office and some of them will be re elected. The last straw for downtown Evansville will be the IU Medical Center and we’ve already been played for that one. I have little doubt this was some sort payback to get D’Patricks to a high visibility location for the car business.

          • Conception in October, 2002 Died April 1st 2023 Cost to the city, $950,000 in design and legal fee’s during that time frame. Playing field was to be “15 feet” below ground.
            It was mention that there was also going to be a 7 foot undercut below that playing field also. Pull it up on the internet, it’s there. So many similarities to the current “no-tel”.

            Maybe he was ahead of his time, designing the ballpark for a CSO reservoir as well!

            I keep thinking there was something besides the cost and the country going to war
            that LR used to stop this project.

      • No need to spin it, it was explained by the report. The increase is to pay for the water meter repairs and to upgrade equipment. The CC approved this 9-0 when they voted for the new water meters. Local heroines SBR and Connie Robinson voted for this at the insistence of the local union bosses. Only a liberal democrat believes we get free stuff. Being a conservative I do not expect a free ride, I know that I must pay tax for streets, sidewalks,parks and all the other nice things to have. It’s when liberals steal these tax dollars for arenas, hotels, buying votes and other garbage that’s a crying shame. No wonder the super rich liberals who have tremendous numbers of ways to avoid paying tax work hard at it. All the problems this city currently has can be laid at the feet of the democrat party and there’s no way you can put a spin on that. Winnecke thought there was some wiggle room and the worms keep popping out. He’s just following a game plan that he can’t get out of.

  2. WASHINGTON POST, February 7, 2015
    HILLARY CLINTON BUILDS MASSIVE 2016 TEAM-IN-WAITING
    Hillary Rodham Clinton is assembling a massive campaign team-in-waiting that outstrips anything on a Republican side that remains factionalized and focused on knocking off one another.

    The Clinton Presidential campaign has settled on — at the least — a campaign chairman, a campaign manager, a chief strategist and lead pollster, another pollster, a lead media adviser, a communication director, a deputy communications director, a focus group director and a communications strategist. Former President Bill Clinton is locking in wealthy donors and has a head start on other ground organizing and fundraising because of the efforts of outside groups supporting her. She is also closing in on a New York City campaign headquarters and a date to make all of this official.

    Jim Messina, who helped engineer Clinton’s downfall in 2008 as a senior aide to Obama’s campaign, now runs a super PAC devoted to supporting HILLARY CLINTON FOR PRESIDENT 2016. “It’s her turn and her time,” he said this week. “We’re going to do whatever it takes to make sure she’s the President of the United States.”

    • Hillary is a formidable candidate. She does not shy away from a fight. And former President Bill Clinton, for all of his faults and critics accusing him of every conspiracy imaginable, was a winner – twice, and had a Presidency that concluded with peace and strong economic prosperity.

      It will take a formidable GOP candidate to win against Hillary. Anything lacking in the candidate will result in another Democratic win in the White House.

        • It also diverted the conversation away from the really rotten ESWD bill situation. The county customers are getting ripped worse than the cities customers.
          Looks like the response said the increase added to the rates and Mandate issue was driving more cost. Then the report from the mainstream media flat out says water meter repairs and old broke down infrastructures downtown are an additional, as well.
          Our social economic environmental consortium debated the fact that maybe the Evansville city administrations legal costs fighting the mandate that they’ve known about since 1972 might be some of the really worthless tack on also.

          The continuous battle to dodge the fix all the while being all in on all those unprofitable fluff projects won’t fix do-diddy squat.
          Pumping funding into the crony recovery program in the old downtown one scheme after another really shows the lack of focus fronted in actually solving the problem with the downtown zombie infrastructures combined sewers.
          The mandate fines looming should be unleashed on the load of crackers bilking your dailies to feed their cronies bailouts. Consistently dumping everything from toxic chemical waste, and an full spectrum of organic bio toxins with each CSO event. Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products as Pollutants (PPCPs) making its way out of the older sections of that infrastructure into the entire clean water balance of the Ohio river drainage basin, is a growing extreme situation . When it comes to long term endocrine medicine issues to closed unit populations still living and working daily in the CSO event environments it becomes an issue that haunts generations. (BAD STUFF)

          What’s Evansville doing, striving to put additional sewage demand right square into the problem where its the worse case first in. Good grief, that’s just wrong.

          Its also a pathway to increased population migration “with their revenues they supply” out and away from the poorly managed infrastructure. Thus historically the whole problem of lack of incoming revenue compounds itself as the town continues to ignore the actual social economic environmental issue that keeps the migration away from the point of incursion. That by the astute population moving forward to more affordable safer, cleaner, environmental infrastructures.

          http://www.epa.gov/ppcp/faq.html

        • Real Clear Politics Average:
          Hillary has a 9 pt. margin over Bush. Ranging from 5 to 13 pts. in the individual polls.
          Also defeating the slob Christie by a similar margin. Beating the erratic Rand Paul by even more.

          With the exception of Bush and Christie it looks like these folks are fielding pretty much the same cast of clowns they put up last time. Bush was to be their savior and he’s showing all signs of being an early fizzle. Fatso self-tainted with his bullying and won’t be a factor. Santorum and Huckabee will be there to remind the voters just how out of touch the national party is. Reince Priebus might even chime in every now and then, helping the Democrat nominee every time he squeaks. Bush can’t overcome the disgrace his dumber brother brought down on the family name. There’s something not quite right about the guy anyway, looks doughy or something.

          • If they’d had the common scents to run their only electable candidate [John Huntsman] instead of backdooring him they could have won the last election. It’s the machine’s fault they loose, they’ve got taste for shmit.

        • It certainly gives pause to think that the Clintons left the Whitehouse, “not just broke but in debt”. For eight years they received free room and board, free travel, etc., etc., etc., and all the while making a nice income. How do you come out of that situation in debt in you have any skills money management? If she can’t manage her own household, how can she be trusted to manage the federal government?

          • Short answer…legal bills.

            HEY DAGNY TAGGART….you know Ayn Rand believe in full blown abortion rights for women. In fact…HERE is Ayn Rand’s exact thoughts:

            “Abortion is a moral right—which should be left to the sole discretion of the woman involved; morally, nothing other than her wish in the matter is to be considered.”

            How about you….Dagny Taggart?

        • JoeBiden – I think you missed something…

          POLITICO: Mandy Grunwald, who was the top paid media consultant for Elizabeth Warren’s winning 2012 Senate campaign, has agreed to leave Senator Warren’s office to join the Hillary Clinton for President campaign team. This is further evidence that Warren isn’t making moves towards running for president, and would have trouble mounting a viable alternative to Hillary Clinton’s campaign if she did.

          (In spite of GOP wishes big time liberal Elizabeth Warran would run for President…she is not.)

      • Dems could also be helped by the fact that there are two more years for Republicans to make their own messes in Congress. Being in charge means there is a bigger target on your back. Both parties do a fine job of placing the blame for problems on the ‘other guy’. Who better to blame for national problems than Congress? Everybody ALREADY hates them. People being fed up with Obama likely led to the Pubs taking over Congress, people being fed up with the Pubs in Congress might lead to another Democrat in the Oval Office.

      • It won’t be the skirt chaser on the podium, it will be that dried up ole hag. She will screw it up as she always does. They will have to script – literally Everything she says, because if she says anything off the cuff she will F”””” it up like she always does. I don’t think I need to give examples but i can. They keep faithfully trotting her out there for the dog and pony show but she is just too old. Her prime time has passed, Obama took it from her. Hell, shes not even in good physical shape for a campaign like that. I think they will tear her apart.

      • Having Hillary as president wouldn’t be that bad, at least she’s an American. We are really lucky to have her running, those snipers in Bosnia could have easily shot her when she was receiving that bunch of flowers from that little 5 year old girl. I’m sure that in the future we will find out that she really fell down on top of that little girl and used her body as a shield to protect her. Her body is otherwise pretty useless according to Bill’s preference. I remember during her last run for president she stated that, “When we get in office” not sure what that meant.

  3. Did anyone see huge C & P front page article re: Danks’ office building going into former EVSC building at Civic Center complex ? All of that for an office building ? Man, what is the fatal attraction with downtown ? Ethridge had a gushing editorial last Sunday about how great every thing is Downtown !

    I am going to put a Porta-Potty (TM) on the corner of 4th and Main, and hire Petula Clark to sing about it. I expect front page coverage, with additional photos and reflection on pg. A11.

  4. In the quarter in which former emperor Billy Jeff Clinton’s term ended, real GDP growth was -1.1%.

    So much for Pigeoncreek Sham’s “strong economic prosperity.” Quite a typical display of his abject ignorance, though.

    I keep wondering how much more of a buffoon that faux Republican Sham can make of himself. It does appear at this point there is no limit.

    • Which source did you go to?

      GDP
      9/31/00 6.64%
      12/31/00 5.5%
      3/31/01 4.76%
      6/31/01 3.5%

      9/31/08 1.88%
      12/31/08 -0.92%
      3/31/09 -1.94%
      6/31/09 -3.19%

      March and June was factor in as a carry over from past administration.
      This is similar to the budget of 01 & 09 belonging to previous the administration.

      • Straight from the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the US Dept. of Commerce.

        Percent change from preceding quarter, real GDP, seasonally adjusted at annual rates, Q1 2001, which was when former Emperor Billy Jeff’s term ended.

        Not sure why Pigeoncreek Sham is now turning to pot. This may explain why he cannot get a local bakery to bake a wedding cake for him and his fiance. It much more likely is the result of them not wanting to break current drug laws by incorporating that substance into the cake than anti-homosexual feeling. Surely a triple-fudge cake with thick icing would create enough of a sugar high that illegal substances are unnecessary.

        • Same source per year. Chain to 2009 dollars)

          1998 $11.77 trillion
          1999 $12.32
          2000 $12.62 $44,628 per capita
          2001 $12.71 $44,602
          2002 $12.96

          2006 $14.72
          2007 $14.99
          2008 $14.58 $49,206 per capita
          2009 $14.54 $46,795 (similar to 2004)
          2010 $14.59

          • You are now simply changing the terms. Pigeoncreek Sham asserted that former emperor Billy Jeff Clinton ended his term in “strong economic prosperity.” The government’s own numbers, as I showed, demonstrate that was simply false. Former emperor Billy Jeff left office in Q1, 2001. Real GDP, using the standard measures and adjustments used by the government, declined in that quarter. Now, in real life do I blame former emperor Billy Jeff directly for that? No, for two reasons: 1) periodic recessions are more or less inevitable, and 2) after the voters took away the car keys in 1994, former emperor Billy Jeff spent the rest of his term demonstrating his only real talents: molesting interns and obstructing justice. It is true that the reckless extension of credit to the financially underqualified (or outright deadbeats) by Billy Jeff’s bureaucrats eventually backfired, coming to a head under the regrettable Pelosi-Reid-Obama junta of 2007-2011. Recall that the Democrat cabal in Congress swore that the minimum wage increase, which President Dubya obligingly signed, would avert a recession. Just how did that work out, anyway?

          • Changing the terms? I did not see any discussion about using quarters in Rivers post!
            That is your “cherry picked” agenda to distort the true picture. My post show the progress/regress before, during, and after each administration change.

            There was a negative $26 in the per capita, which is the third indicator of the
            equation from 2000-2001.

            There was a negative $2,411 during the 2008-2009 administration change.

          • Going back 65 years, every administration experienced a “per capita”
            increase during their administration!

    • Right. Right…HOWLER thinks everyone is a liberal dope smoker and a RINO. He thinks HUCKABEE is a liberal dope smoker for God’s sake.

  5. Take a little time this weekend and discover how the old saying that “the more things change, the more they stay the same” has a ring of truth to it. Read the pages provided here in Lincoln Steffens book: The Shame of The Cities. The part on Pittsburgh PA may be the most enlightening thing you have ever read on politics, and will certainly have some very familiar narrative that will give you more than one aha moment. It starts on page 101, and really starts treading in familiar areas at about page 120. This all happened at the beginning of the 20th century. Just think how long this class of people have had to refine even further their evil schemes.

    http://books.google.com/books?id=CLSEXRHKzPoC&pg=PA113&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=2#v=onepage&q&f=true

    Be sure to expand to full screen for easier reading.

  6. Any comment on the main stream media’s favorite lad Brian Williams. It seems the more they dig the more they find he has trouble telling the truth. It has been known for quite some time that NBC with alter the news but now they have a problem with their star. Two wrongs do not make a right.

  7. I salute and smile at the crash and burn scenario involving the Methamphetamine scourge in Vanderburgh County.

    May every unpleasant physical, emotional, spiritual and financial pain the perpetrators experience leave several deep scars on their souls !

  8. Any comments about the Presidents remarks at the National Prayer breakfast where he tried to tie the current Islamic Terrorists to what happened back in the Middle Ages. Two wrongs do not make a right.

  10. the crusades was a defensive war by the Christians fought against radical islam……….thank God the Christians was successful……….something it appears by his bias comments little barry hussein is not to happy with………………

  11. WALL STREET JOURNAL, Friday, February 6, 2015

    WHAT WILL MATTER TO EVANGELICALS IN 2016
    Authored by Russell Moore, President of the Southern Baptist Convention
    Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission

    In recent years candidates have assumed that they can win over evangelicals by learning Christian slogans, by masking political rallies as prayer meetings, and by basically producing a long-form new birth certificate to prove they’ve been born again. This sort of identity politics is a luxury of a past era when evangelicals were part of a silent majority in the U.S., with our First Amendment freedoms assumed and guaranteed. That is not the present situation.

    In the past several elections, religious liberty has hardly been mentioned. In 2016, candidates have to answer how they would protect the legacy of religious freedom. In 2016, it doesn’t matter whether a candidate knows the words to hymns. What will matter to evangelicals is how the candidate, if elected president, will articulate and defend religious-liberty rights.

    That is why evangelicals care about whether Muslim prisoners are forced to shave their beards without a compelling government interest, at issue in a Supreme Court decision last month that a man jailed in Arkansas could not be forced to shave. (If the government can Muslims force to change their religious habits and shave their beards, it can force evangelical Christians to discard their religious convictions as well….so goes the logic.)

    Religious liberty is too important to see it become one more culture-war wedge issue. We want candidates who know why our religious freedom matters, with a strategy to protect it.

  12. HUTCHINSON, SHOCKEY CO. v. Evansville
    Annotate this Case

    644 N.E.2d 1228 (1994)

    HUTCHINSON, SHOCKEY, Erley & CO., Appellant-Defendant, v. EVANSVILLE-Vanderburgh County Building Authority, Appellee-Defendant, and the National City Bank of Evansville, Appellee-Plaintiff.

    No. 26S01-9412-CV-1239.

    Supreme Court of Indiana.

    December 20, 1994.

    Rehearing Denied May 17, 1995.

    *1229 Victor B. Maddox, David Tachau, Michael Q. Murray, Brown, Todd & Heyburn, Louisville, KY, for appellant Hutchinson, Shockey, Erley & Co.

    F. Wesley Bowers, David E. Gray, Cedric Hustace, Bowers, Harrison, Kent & Miller, Evansville, for appellee Evansville-Vanderburgh County Building Authority.

    David J. Emmert, Indianapolis, for amici curiae Indiana School Boards Ass’n.

    J. Christopher White, Indianapolis, for amici curiae Indiana Bankers Ass’n and Peoples Bank & Trust Co.

    Jane A. Seigel, Indianapolis, for amici curiae Indiana Ass’n Cities & Towns and Ass’n of Indiana Counties.

    Terry E. Harris, Crawfordsville, for amicicuriae South Montgomery School Corp.

    SULLIVAN, Justice.

    We hold that holders of the Bonds issued in 1966 to finance construction of the Evansville Civic Center Complex are not entitled to receive payment before the stated maturity date of their bonds. We therefore grant transfer, vacate the decision of the Court of Appeals, Hutchinson, Shockey, Erley & Co. v. Evansville-Vanderburgh County Bldg. Auth. (1993), Ind. App., 626 N.E.2d 551, reh’g denied, and affirm the decision of the trial court in this case. Ind.Appellate Rule 11(B)(3).
    Background

    The facts, taken largely from the opinion of the Court of Appeals, are as follows. In May, 1966, the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Building Authority (the “Authority”) executed a Trust Indenture with The National City Bank of Evansville as Trustee, governing the sale of $19,250,000 in municipal revenue bonds to finance construction of an Administration and Safety Building, Courts Building and School Corporation Building, known as the Evansville Civic Center Complex. The Authority entered into a 40-year Governmental Buildings Lease (“Lease”) with the City of Evansville, the Board of Commissioners of the County of Vanderburgh and the Evansville-Vanderburgh County School Corporation (“Lessees”), beginning on the date the buildings were completed and ready for occupancy. As security for payment of the bonds and interest thereon, the Authority pledged and assigned the fixed annual rentals and other income from the Lease on the buildings to the Trustee.

    As is customary with trust indentures of this kind, rental income from the Lease was payable to the Trustee for deposit in a Bond and Interest Sinking Fund pledged to, and to be used solely for the payment of, the interest and principal of the bonds issued under the Indenture. The bonds were scheduled to mature serially each year from 1970 through 2006. They carried interest rates ranging from 1% to 4%. Interest on the bonds is exempt from federal and state taxation.

    *1230 In 1990, the Authority determined that it had accumulated sufficient revenue in the Sinking Fund to pay the $12,050,000 in principal then outstanding on the bonds at maturity and accrued interest on the bonds when and as interest became due. However, once the Authority had accumulated sufficient funds to pay the bonds to maturity, the Authority anticipated that the State Board of Tax Commissioners would not approve property tax levies by the Lessees to pay the fixed annual lease rentals on the buildings as required in the Lease. In response, the Authority proposed to accomplish a “bond defeasance,” that is, to terminate, release and discharge the lien and operation of the Indenture securing the bonds, including the Lease on the buildings. To assure that the Bondholders would receive their principal and interest when due, the Authority proposed to invest the Sinking Fund in government obligations held in a Trust Account to be established under a new “Escrow Agreement” with Old National Bank in Evansville as the paying agent and Escrow Trustee. The Authority describes this substitution of collateral arrangement as an “escrow to maturity.” The Escrow Agreement would provide for the timely payment of principal and interest on the bonds according to the original bond schedule under the Indenture. Any funds accumulated in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the government obligations, not needed to pay the principal or interest on the bonds, would be deposited in the Authority’s depreciation reserve account and used for repair and renovation of the buildings. Under this plan, after January 1, 1991, no further tax levy would be required for fixed rentals to pay the bonds, and the Authority would use the Trust Account to earn an estimated $9 Million in additional income from the difference between the interest paid on the bonds and interest earned from investing the moneys in the Trust Account.

    To activate the Escrow Agreement, the authority requested the Trustee to execute a Release of Trust Indenture acknowledging that the obligations under the Indenture had been satisfied, terminated and discharged, thereby defeasing the bonds. The Release would have authorized the transfer of funds from the Sinking Fund for deposit with the Escrow Trustee, “in an amount at least equal to the principal of and interest to be paid on all outstanding bonds to maturity and sufficient to pay the principal of and interest on all outstanding bonds when due and payable.”

    In early 1991, after learning that the Trustee held sufficient funds in the Sinking Fund on deposit to redeem all the bonds, Hutchinson, Shockey, Erley & Co. surrendered $100,000 in bonds nominally due in 2005 to the Trustee for immediate redemption prior to maturity.
    Trial Court Disposition

    Because of its concern whether the Indenture authorized the Authority’s proposed bond defeasance and escrow to maturity plan, and confronted with conflicting demands from the Authority and Bondholders, the Trustee initiated this interpleader action seeking a declaratory judgment of its obligations under the Indenture. The Authority and the Bondholders filed answers to the Trustee’s complaint. The Bondholders also filed counterclaims against the Trustee for breach of its fiduciary duty in wrongfully withholding funds available for redemption of the bonds, and filed cross-claims against the Authority, for demanding the Trustee’s wrongful release and discharge of the Indenture securing the bonds while withholding funds from the Bondholders available to redeem the bonds. In these various pleadings the Bondholders denied the Trustee’s authority to release and discharge the lien of the Indenture without providing for the immediate redemption of the bonds.

    After discovery, including numerous depositions, extensive production of documents, and numerous hearings, on November 10, 1992, the trial court granted summary judgment for the Authority. The Bondholders appealed from that judgment.
    Court of Appeals Disposition

    The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court, holding that the Bondholders were entitled to payment for their Bonds. Hutchinson, Shockey, 626 N.E.2d at 559. The *1231 Court of Appeals based its decision on two separate lines of analysis.

    First, it analyzed the language of the Indenture itself and concluded that there was no language
    in the Indenture to support the conclusion that actual payment and redemption upon surrender of the bonds, at or prior to maturity, can be postponed by an escrow once defeasance has occurred and the moneys are available on deposit with the Trustee for such payment. Such an arrangement would violate the pledge of security provisions and other affirmative covenants of the Authority found elsewhere in the Indenture.

    Id. at 558.

    Second, the Court of Appeals analyzed the County Building Authority Statute in effect in 1966, which provided that the maturities of municipal revenue bonds “shall not extend over a period longer than the period of the lease of the building or buildings on account of which said bonds are issued.” Ind. Code Ann. § 26-2516 (Burns 1960) (enacted 1953 Ind. Acts, ch. 54, § 16) (current version at Ind. Code § 36-9-13-30 (1993)). The Court of Appeals concluded that this provision requires “that when the leases for the government buildings are terminated and, thus, the security for the bonds is released, the bonds must be eligible for redemption… . The Indenture as written does not provide for such an option, and neither can it lawfully be construed in that manner.” Id. at 558-59.

    Based on these two lines of reasoning, the Court of Appeals held that
    before the Authority can lawfully defease the bonds and implement its escrow to maturity plan, it is required to obtain the consent of the holders of two-thirds of the bonds to modify the Indenture. Absent such consent, the terms and covenants of the Indenture do not authorize the Authority to defease the bonds without also providing for immediate redemption. Thus, when the lien of the Indenture on the obligations which secure the bonds is terminated and released, the bonds are defeased, and the Bondholders are entitled to surrender and redeem their bonds, whether at or prior to maturity.

    Id.

    We disagree with the Court of Appeals in both respects.
    Analysis of Indenture Provisions

    The parties have conflicting views of the meaning of the Indenture and so we construe its meaning. The primary purpose in the construction of contracts is to ascertain and give effect to the mutual intention of the parties. Western & Southern Life Ins. Co. v. Vale (1938), 213 Ind. 601, 610, 12 N.E.2d 350, 354. In the Indenture, the Authority made the following undertakings “the pledge of security and affirmative covenants” referred to by the Court of Appeals relevant to this dispute:

    1. The Authority pledged all amounts paid to the Bond and Interest Sinking Fund and all rent and other income from the Authority’s buildings to the Trustee to secure the payment of the principal and redemption price of and interest on the bonds. Indenture § 4.06.

    2. The Authority promised that, except for changes expressly permitted by the Indenture, it would not agree to any modification of the terms of the Lease
    which would substantially impair or reduce the security of the holders of the bonds, or agree to the termination thereof, or agree to a reduction of the lease rental provided for therein until all indebtedness secured by this Indenture is fully paid, except upon compliance with the provisions of Section 12.02

    Indenture § 7.01. Section 12.02 of the Indenture specified the Bondholder approval requirements for amendments to the Indenture.

    3. The Authority agreed that it would not incur any indebtedness other than the Bonds payable from rents collected under the Lease other than short-term debt incurred in connection with the operation and maintenance of the Authority’s buildings. Indenture § 7.07.

    4. The Authority agreed that
    *1232 until the bonds and the interest thereon shall have been paid, or provision for such payment shall have been made, and except as in this Indenture otherwise permitted, it will not sell, or otherwise dispose of or encumber, the [Authority’s buildings], and will not create or permit to be created any charge or lien on the rentals or other income derived therefrom.

    Indenture § 7.09.

    In addition to these undertakings, the Indenture permitted the Authority, at its option and upon payment of a premium, to redeem certain outstanding Bonds according to procedures set forth in the Indenture. Indenture art. V. The Indenture contains no provisions giving the Bondholders the option to tender Bonds for redemption prior to maturity.

    Finally, the Indenture contains the following defeasance provisions which we believe are far more central to this dispute than did the Court of Appeals:
    Section 13.01. If the Authority shall pay or cause to be paid, or there shall otherwise be paid, to the holders of the bonds and coupons the principal and interest and redemption price, if any, to become due thereon, at the times and in the manner stipulated therein and in this Indenture, then the pledge of rentals and other income, moneys and securities hereby pledged, the right, title and interest of the Trustee, and all other rights granted hereby, shall thereupon cease, terminate and become void and be discharged and satisfied… . Section 13.02. Bonds or coupons for the payment or redemption of which money shall then be held by the Trustee or the Paying Agents (through the deposit by the Authority of funds for such payment or redemption, or otherwise), whether at or prior to the maturity or redemption date of such Bonds, shall be deemed to have been paid, within the meaning of Section 13.01; provided, however, that if any such Bonds are to be redeemed prior to the maturity thereof, the Authority shall have taken all action necessary to redeem such Bonds, and notice of such redemption shall have been duly given or provision satisfactory to the Trustee shall have been made for the giving of such notice; and provided further, that if the maturity or redemption date of any such bond shall not then have arrived, provision shall have been made by the Authority, by deposit with the Trustee or other method satisfactory to it, for the payment to the holders of any such Bonds and coupons, upon surrender thereof, whether or not prior to the maturity or redemption date thereof, of the full amount to which they would be entitled by way of principal, redemption price or interest to the date of such maturity or redemption; and provision shall have been made by the Authority, satisfactory to the Trustee, for the publication at least twice in an interval of not less than seven (7) days between publications in newspapers of general circulation or financial journals published in the Cities of Indianapolis, Indiana, and New York, New York, respectively, which notice shall advise the holder of the bonds and coupons that such moneys are so available for such payment.

    Section 13.01 provides that if the Authority shall “pay,” directly or indirectly, to the Bondholders all of the principal and interest due them, then the pledge of payments and rents and other undertakings made in the Indenture and the rights of the Trustee cease. Section 13.02 defines the term “pay” as used in § 13.01. It specifies that the Authority will be deemed to have paid Bonds not yet matured if (i) the Authority deposits with the Trustee the full amount to which the Bondholders, upon surrender of their Bonds, would be entitled to the date of maturity, and (ii) the Authority arranges for the publication of notice in Indianapolis and New York of notice to the Bondholders “that such moneys are so available for such payment.”

    Section 13.01, by its terms, eliminates the problem that the Court of Appeals found when it held that the covenants and amendment provisions of the Indenture prohibited defeasance without immediate redemption. Section 13.01 provides that if the defeasance provisions are complied with, “then the pledge of rentals and other income, moneys and securities hereby pledged, the right, title and interest of the Trustee, and all other *1233 rights granted hereby, shall thereupon cease, terminate and become void and discharged and satisfied.” Thus, by its terms, § 13.01 overrides the pledge of security and other affirmative covenants described above.

    Concluding that the pledge of security and other affirmative covenants are subject to the defeasance provisions of § 13.01 does not adversely affect the Bondholders. Under the terms of the Indenture, the Indenture and all of the issuer’s undertakings pledge of payments and rents, covenants against further indebtedness and encumbrances remain in effect so long as any Bonds or coupons remained outstanding unless and until payment is on deposit with the Trustee. Then, and only then, are the pledge of security and other affirmative covenants in the Indenture terminated. We conclude that there is nothing about the pledge of security or affirmative covenants that prevents defeasance so long as the provisions of § 13.01 are scrupulously complied with.

    In reaching the contrary conclusion, that is, in determining that defeasance violated the pledge of security and affirmative covenants, the Court of Appeals went on to hold that the Bonds became immediately due and payable.[1] While we hold no violation of the pledge of security or affirmative covenants is triggered by the defeasance plan, the question of whether the Bondholders are entitled to pre-payment remains. The answer turns on the way § 13.02 is interpreted.

    Interpretation of § 13.02 Favorable to Bondholders. Section 13.02 defines when Bonds are “deemed to have been paid, within the meaning of Section 13.01.” That is, unless the provisions of § 13.02 are complied with, the defeasance provided for under § 13.01 cannot occur because the Bonds will not have been paid.

    One of the conditions of Section 13.02 is that the Authority must make
    provision … by deposit with the Trustee or other method satisfactory to it, for the payment to the holders of any such bonds and coupons, upon surrender thereof, whether or not prior to the maturity … date thereof, of the full amount to which they would be entitled by way of principal . .. or interest to the date of such maturity.

    (Emphasis added). Further, in the notice provision, § 13.02 requires that the notice advise Bondholders and coupon holders “that such moneys are so available for such payment.” The Bondholders argue that this language requires that Bondholders and coupon holders are to be paid the principal and interest to which they are entitled upon surrender of their securities, even if prior to maturity. This construction does no particular violence to Indiana bond law. It merely says that indentures will be interpreted in accordance with their terms and this particular Indenture provides for pre-payment in the event of defeasance.

    Interpretation of § 13.02 Favorable to Authority. Traditional defeasance clauses existed for the purpose of permitting the issuer’s and Trustee’s obligations to be discharged even if all Bonds and coupons had not been tendered for payment. Bondholders were not entitled to receive payment for their securities prior to maturity. The Authority argues that while the Bondholders might tender their Bonds for payment prior to maturity, the language here does not create any entitlement to pre-payment. The proper construction of the “provision for payment” clause, according to the Authority, is that in order for defeasance to occur, the trustee must have an adequate amount on deposit to pay the Bonds and coupons at maturity, regardless of when the Bonds are surrendered for payment.

    We agree with the Authority’s interpretation. We note in particular that the language of § 13.02 provides that for the defeasance provisions to be effective, the Authority must make “provision … for the payment to the holders … of the full amount to which they would be entitled by way of principal … or interest to the date of such maturity,” (emphasis added), not to the date the Bonds are tendered for payment. If Bondholders *1234 and coupon holders could be paid upon surrender, then they would not be paid to the date of maturity. In other words, for the language of § 13.02 to support the Bondholders interpretation, the language would have to require that the Authority “make provision for the payment to the holders of the full amount to which they would be entitled by way of principal or interest to the date of such surrender,” not “to the date of such maturity.”

    While we think it likely that the defeasance provision of this Indenture was not drafted with the expectation that defeasance could take place fifteen years prior to final maturity, the Indenture also contains no restrictions that we can discern on such a result. The Indenture could have been drafted to require mandatory early redemption or early redemption at the option of the Bondholder. However, the fact that the Authority has been able to take advantage of a provision that was probably originally intended to serve a different purpose provides no basis for this court to re-write the contract and provide for early redemption. See First Fed. Sav. Bank of Indiana v. Key Markets, Inc. (1990), Ind., 559 N.E.2d 600, 604. The Bondholders will, under this arrangement, receive payment of principal and interest when due in accordance with the terms of their Bonds. And because provision has been made by the Authority, by deposit with the Trustee or other method satisfactory to it, of the full amount to which the Bondholders will be entitled by way of principal and interest to the date of maturity, further protection under the Indenture is not necessary and, by the terms of §§ 13.01 and 13.02, is terminated.
    Authorizing Statute

    The Court of Appeals opinion also holds that any Bonds issued pursuant to the County Building Authority Statute, supra, must be redeemed as soon as sufficient funds are accumulated in the sinking fund. Hutchinson, Shockey, 626 N.E.2d at 559. This interpretation, of course, goes further than that court’s interpretation of the Indenture, which gave the Bondholder the ability to redeem prior to maturity upon exercise of § 13.01, the defeasance clause.

    We read the statute differently from the Court of Appeals. The provision in question sets forth a series of requirements for the issuance of bonds. That is, at the time bonds are issued, the maturities on the bonds must not exceed the term of the lease. We agree with the Authority that it is highly likely that this provision is meant to assure compliance with constitutional debt limitations and to protect bondholders. Once the bonds are issued and the bondholders are protected by the terms of the indenture, the statutory provision of necessity is overridden by the terms of the indenture. If we were to hold otherwise, it could work to the extreme prejudice on the bondholder or the issuer, depending on market conditions. For example, such a holding would allow units of government to override the maturity and redemption provisions of outstanding bonds and indentures in unfavorable interest rate environments, depriving bondholders of their high-rate securities. Government has no power to impair a contract in this way. See Dartmouth College v. Woodward, 17 U.S. (4 Wheat.) 518, 4 L.Ed. 629 (1819).
    Bondholders’ Rights

    At oral argument, counsel for Bondholders suggested that a ruling in the Authority’s favor in this case would have an adverse impact on investors’ confidence in Indiana municipal bonds. While it is the duty of the court to decide cases in accordance with the law, and we are convinced that the law is with the Authority here, this court is not blind to the impact that its rulings have on our state. Suffice it to say that this court has scrutinized this case with great care to assure itself that the Bondholders here got the benefit of the bargain they made when they invested in these securities. Convinced that the Bondholders have received every benefit for which they bargained, we are confident that investors will continue to place their trust in the high security of Indiana municipal bonds.
    *1235 Conclusion

    We therefore grant transfer, vacate the opinion of the Court of Appeals, and affirm the judgment of the Gibson Circuit Court. App.R. 11(B)(3).

    SHEPARD, C.J., and DeBRULER and DICKSON, JJ., concur.

    GIVAN, J., dissents believes the Court of Appeals’ opinion published at 626 N.E.2d 551 is correct.
    NOTES

    [1] It is unclear whether the Court of Appeals interpreted the Indenture to require that the Bondholders be paid as of the date of defeasance or to permit the Bondholders to continue to hold their Bonds, collecting interest, until they tender their Bonds or until maturity.
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    • Seriously. Copying and pasting something this long is ‘akin to littering. Event the ads at the bottom?

      • I think it’s an attempt to establish dominance over the pack. Sort of like mounting behavior in dogs, but this involves other posters and is done online.

        • Wow. PRESSANYKEY is taking it on the chops.

          (He even cut and pasted the ADS!)

          • Pretty said. It took me ten hours to scroll past his cut and paste job? Geese. Come on Press you can do better than that. Perhaps a link next time. it’s much easier to scroll past and not read that way.

      • (cam?) hee-hee We have come full circle with our previous post from the other day.
        Later!

    • I believe that is a fellow township resident making the headlines in the C&P Sports section, as setting the tone for the Saturday event.

  14. A note to LKB, —-Check this info at the link below as you , like I, prepare to “escape” Evansville and the Debt that is piling up on the Homeowners. I have finally sold my home in Evansville after 17months on the Market, and at a price $10,000 below a Professional appraisal , and over $6,000 below the assessors opinion.
    Maybe that indicates the declining Value of the Evansville “experience”,–Maybe not.
    –The Bright side? I won’t be paying for the underhanded political follies of Evansville’s “Finest Creeps” anymore. http://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/retirement/T006-S001-10-most-tax-friendly-states-for-retirees/index.html?si=1

  15. Did anyone attend the UE game Saturday afternoon ? There were NOT 4,100 fans in attendance, thank you very much ! It is bad enough that they lost after being ahead by 17, but to falsify the attendance ? Really ?

    • 3,000 tops, butts in seats. Must have been the ‘paid attendance’. Even the cabal didn’t want to watch Bradley play.

      Also, more media manipulation by C & P. Yesterday afternoon, the C & P website allowed anyone to view the comments. Must have been 11 comments or so, all saying Marty Simmons has to go ! This morning, pulled it up again, and 37 comments . . . .but now behind the paywall.

    • I believe they count season ticket holders seats even if they aren’t there. Standard practice in the biz.

  17. Meth in Evansville:

    How pathetic is it that Winnecke takes credit for meth lab busts in 2014 being one-half of 2013; but fails to mention the flood of purchased meth coming in from Mexico ? C & P did a decent job with this morning’s article, no one is cooking meth, they can buy it in useable form and avoid law enforcement by not having to purchase all of the precursors locally with which to cook.
    Consider this type of manipulation by LW when voting for ANYONE BUT HIM !

    • We have a pathetic mayor so it is to be expected that he’ll do pathetic things. At this point I’m not so sure he knows just how ridiculous he looks. ‘Mayor’s No Meth Task Force’, indeed.

      I’m all for the cops and prosecutors who are doing their best to lessen the meth scourge around here. When an acccidental mayor like Winnecke gloms onto their efforts for political gain it just gets chalked up as another of the transparently self-serving and repugnant things he’s done.

  18. Public policy should be made based upon:

    A) The latest scientific evidence, research, studies, or empirical evidence.

    B) The traditions of and superstitions of a bronze age book passed down around the campfire from generation to generation.

    • I’ve never understood why Piyush Jindal feels the need to call himself “Bobby”, or why he thinks he should be president.

    • Not surprising for a country that is mostly homogenous. The people in those countries who would grow up to commit murders are usually put to death early on. The muslims would have a great time and a full time job in a place like Cleveland, Detroit, Ferguson, Chicago, LA, southeast side of Evansville. And seeing as how they don’t have a welfare system the above mentioned cities would face mass starvation, feeding the hungry masses is a Christian thing and we know what muslims do to those good Christian folks. Using the death penalty to kill people is not considered murder, it’s just deserts. Also muslims have very few if any police officers, wonder why? Maybe no need for them.

    • And that was the best he could come up with after insulting the president by not calling him in a timely manner to concede. Maybe his thug son Tagg, the one who said he wanted to take a swing at Obama after the president strummed his daddy in a debate, whispered it in his ear and he went with it.

    • Took a lot of bottles and baggies to get that turn out. Can you imagine the intense training required to get those urban people to learn the difference between an R and D, then successfully select D, 9 out of 10 times. Skinnerian techniques work on even protozoa.

      • with all the money spent by the GOP to buy the election he could have bought a lot of $20 bags of pot. Just saying

  21. Was the building at he civic center that formerly housed the EVSC administration ever actually OWNED by the Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation. If not, how could the EVSC sell the building to Scott Danks et al?

  22. A liberal brains-in-his-behind graduate of the Acme Institute of Economics, Finance, and Hair Design once again demonstrates that he continues to use his BS degree [zero cum laude] in Gullibility Studies, with a minor in Credulousness.

    Not even the NY Daily News is swallowing David Axelliar’s account of Emperor Empty-Suit’s report on his conversation with Romney.

    http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/romney-aide-hits-back-axelrod-description-2012-call-article-1.2103438

    • ‘Zat you Tagg? Wipe yourself. Enjoy your extra time playing internet fool in the day room this weekend, your cell mate awaits your return. Takes a special kind of clown, one approximating something like you, to believe the discredited Romney retainer Garrett Jackson’s word for anything. Romney has solidified his spot as the most inveterate and unapologetic liar in modern politics. It is little wonder something like you would cling to him. Huh Tagg? When you get out maybe they’ll put you on as one of their car elevator operators, you’re eminently equipped for such a mission considering all the ups and downs you’ve been through lately.

  23. Publisher and Editor!

    The leadership of the Evansville Cell of Organizing for Idiocy congratulates you on the construction of one of the finest “pay to play” local political web sites we have observed. Please rest assured that we are directing our local progressive candidates to continue their ad buys.

    We trust that by sheer, total coincidence, the steady stream of invective against Lloyd Winnecke and fawning articles over over progressive Democratic candidates will continue.

    J. Coddington “Comrade Hugo” Fetlock IV
    Maximum Co-coordinator
    Organizing for Idiocy
    Evansville Cell

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