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Responsive employer
TRADING CARDS COLLECT NEW FANS
by Peter Funt, January 25, 2021
HOT JOBS IN EVANSVILLE
Price named GLVC Player of the Week
University of Southern Indiana senior forward Josh Price was named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Week for his efforts in the Screaming Eagles’ victories over Lewis University January 21 and the University of Illinois Springfield January 23. The GLVC Player of the Week award is the first of the year for Price, who also won the award twice last year.
Price started the week with a 17 point, nine rebound performance in the 74-65 victory at Lewis. He was seven-of-12 from the field, one-of-two from downtown, and two-of-two from the line, while making three steals and blocking a pair of shots.
The senior forward concluded the week with dominating performance in USI’s 88-69 win at Illinois Springfield. Price posted a career-high 35 points on 12-of-19 from the field and 11-of-12 from the line. He also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and tied a career-high by dishing three assists, in addition to making three more steals and blocking two more shots in the win.
For the week, Price averaged 26.0 points per game on 61.3 percent from the field (19-31), 50 percent from long range (1-2), and 92.9 percent from the stripe (13-14). He also averaged a team-high 8.5 rebounds, 3.0 steals, 2.0 blocks, and 1.5 assists per game.
Price and the Eagles have a pair of games on the schedule this week at home starting with Lewis on Tuesday and Quincy University Thursday. USI’s game with Truman State, scheduled for Saturday has already been postponed due to COVID-19.
ADOPT A PET
These guys are a pair of male guinea pigs! They are 2 years old. Average guinea pig lifespan is 5-7 years. They must go home together. The adoption fee is $30 for both and the VHS usually has a variety of gently-used small animal items for sale in the lobby! Get details and apply to adopt at www.vhslifesaver.org/adopt!
HEALTH DEPARTMENT UPDATES STATEWIDE COVID-19 CASE COUNTS
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“IS IT TRUE” JANUARY 25, 2021
We hope that today’s “IS IT TRUEâ€Â will provoke honest and open dialogue concerning issues that we, as responsible citizens of this community, need to address in a rational and responsible way?
City-County Observer Comment Policy. Be kind to people. No personal attacks or harassment will be tolerated and will be removed from our site.â€
We understand that sometimes people don’t always agree and discussions may become a little heated.  The use of offensive language, insults against commenters will not be tolerated and will be removed from our site.
IS IT TRUE when the politicians didn’t allow the well-credentialed scientists to make sound medical decisions concerning the deadly COVID-19 virus things went South? Â …that the majority of our intellectually challenged elected officials panicked and made edicts that overturned the sound medical predictions of the scientists?
IS IT TRUE the people respect and listen to political leaders? …there is a major difference between politicians and political leaders?
IS IT TRUE it’s obvious that several elected officials in Washington, D. C. did not manage  the Corona-19 virus crisis very well because they are allowing the crisis to manage them?
IS IT TRUEÂ we are thankful that our local elected officials, Vanderburgh County Health Department and the CEO’s at our local hospitals made plans to fight the deadly CORVID-19 virus before it becomes an unmanageable catastrophic event for our region?
IS IT TRUE when we love and care for each other all things are possible? ...during times like these please pray for our medical providers, first responders, law enforcement and fire fighting personnel, delivery people, grocery store clerks and stockers, food service cooks and servers, construction workers, and truck drivers?
IS IT TRUEÂ several years ago a group of American veterans who deal with some of the most debilitating mental anguish has called upon the State of Indiana to legalize medicinal marijuana. …some Veterans feel that legalizing medicinal marijuana and decriminalizing small amounts may just cut back on the overcrowding problem at the Vanderburgh County jail and VA hospitals ?…the veteran’s group also feel that putting someone who possessed a small amount of marijuana in jail at $50,000 per year cost to the taxpayers is bordering on insane?
IS IT TRUE that crime statistics taken in the year 2020 point to the reality that the largest percentage increase in homicides in American history happened during a pandemic?…murder was up nearly 37% in a group of 57 large and medium-size American cities?…preliminary estimates indicate that at least 2,000 more Americans, most of them black, were killed in 2020 than in 2019?…mainstream media and many politicians claim the pandemic caused this bloodbath, but the chronology of when the killing wave started doesn’t support their assertions?
IS IT TRUE that the local murder increases in 2020 were startling and unprecedented?…murders was up by 95% in Milwaukee, 78% in Louisville, Ky., 74% in Seattle, 72% in Minneapolis, 62% in New Orleans, and 58% in Atlanta?…in the early days of the pandemic that began in March crime actually decreased relative to 2019 continuing the dropping crime rates that are typical of aging populations?…it was not until the so called mostly peaceful protests that began on Memorial Day weekend that the murderous rampage began?…even children were not safe when the rage in the streets exploded?… children were killed in drive-by shootings, in their beds, living rooms and strollers?…children were murdered in family gatherings, in their yards, in malls, in their parents’ cars, and at birthday parties?…fifty-five children were killed in Chicago in 2020, 17 in St. Louis, and 11 in Philadelphia?… eighteen people were murdered in Chicago on May 31—the city’s most violent day in six decades?…other American cities saw similar spikes in mayhem, all tied to the street violence unleashed by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25?
IS IT TRUE that law enforcement professionals have borne the brunt of the blame for the increase in violence the reality is that the “defund the police†movement poisoned the atmosphere in American cities to the point that police have either been restricted beyond and capacity to prevent violent crime?…many law enforcement officers have become terrified to do their jobs in large cities that have actually encouraged what is essentially a war on the police?…while some reforms may be in order, having murder rates increase by nearly 100% is not acceptable and will lead to the exodus from America’s large cities?…this crime pandemic will also destroy tourism to large cities as most Americans are peace-loving people who do not want to expose themselves to violent areas?…2021 has started out even worse?…shootings in South Los Angeles rose 742% in the first two weeks of the year?…Oakland’s homicides were up 500% and shootings up 126% through Jan. 17?…in New York, murders were up 42% and shooting victims up 15% through Jan. 17?…car-jackings are already up 135% in Chicago in 2021 and are spilling into the city’s suburbs like Aurora, Illinois?
IS IT TRUE that many are hoping and expecting that we will come out of this pandemic better in the long run but allowing violent crime to occur unchallenged because law enforcement officers have had their prevention tools taken away will not help with that?…people are already flooding out of cities as telecommuting becomes prevalent?…this opens up opportunities for small cities like Evansville but the mid-sized cities that handcuff their police departments will not be seeing these people?…we encourage Evansville to avoid the trap of doing things like violent places like Portland and Chicago do?…it would be well advised to avoid the actions that place like this have taken that have clearly made these once vibrant cities become unlivable to civilized people?
IS IT TRUE that since the “defund the police” movement has taken hold in some large American cities violent crime has increased by over 250% in many of those cities? Â …that the City-Council Observer strongly opposes the “defund the police” movement?
IS IT TRUE that The Right To Assemble And To Seek Redress Of Grievances Is Enshrined In Our Constitution?  …over the last several months we have witnessed peaceful and violent protests alike throughout America?  …yesterday outside groups of anarchists agitators attempted to foment lawlessness and unrest to advance their own objectives to cause anarchy in America? …we are a nation born of the revolutionary spirit of protest, coupling expressions of grievances against injustice with the desire to be free? …we deplore the theft, lotting, and burning of the U. S. Capitol building caused by the random acts of lawless anarchists and thugs?  …in fact, we believe that these lawless thugs should be arrested and thrown in jail?
IS IT TRUE that we continue to be impressed by Jon Webb over at the Evansville Courier and Press? Â … kudos to Jon Webb for using his reporter’s skills to reach a highly probable conclusion?
IS IT TRUE we are really pleased with the way that the newly Vanderburgh County Treasurer Dottie Thomas is running her office?
IS IT TRUE that Pigeon Township Trustee Mariama Wilson and Knight Township Trustee Kathryn Martin both continue to put people first and are both doing outstanding jobs as public servants?
IS IT TRUE we would like to thank Bailey Davis, Administrative Assistant for the Vanderburgh County Commission for sending us news articles in a timely manner
IS IT TRUE when the people fear the Government we have Tyranny! Â When the Government fears the people we have Liberty?
IS IT TRUE our “READERS POLLS†are non-scientific but trendy?
Today’s “Readers Pollâ€Â question is: Should everyone living, eating, shopping, or working in Evansville be required to wear a face mask?
IS IT TRUE over the last 16 plus years the CCO has published around 250 “IS IT TRUE” columns per year? Â …each column had an average of seven (7) “IS IT TRUE” statements posted in it? Â …our guesstimate is that the City-County Observer has written and posted around 28,000 Â “IS IT TRUE” statements over the last 16 plus years?
Please take time and read our articles entitled FEATURES, LAW ENFORCEMENT, “READERS POLLâ€, BIRTHDAYS, HOT JOBSâ€, EDUCATION, YESTERYEAR, OBITUARIES and “LOCAL SPORTSâ€.
You now are able to subscribe to get the CCO on line daily at no costs. Â Also you are now able to pick up your printed copy of the City-County Observer at 20 locations throughout this area.
TRADING CARDS COLLECT NEW FANS
To paraphrase Rudyard Kipling: A good cigar is a smoke, but a cigar box filled with trading cards is a treasure.
My father smoked Dutch Masters Panetelas and the box in which they came was the perfect size for storing baseball and football cards made by the Topps company. Cards came in packs of six, along with a stiff slab of pink bubble gum that had a distinctive sweet smell, while the box, having once held cigars, had a deep earthy scent. In combination the aroma was intoxicating.
With modern digital enhancements, and boosted by pandemic-altered lifestyles, the sports-card business is booming. This month, a single card printed in 1952 by the Topps company, depicting the Yankees rookie sensation Mickey Mantle, sold for a record $5.2 million.
Topps was a family business in Brooklyn, launched in 1938 by Morris Shorin and his four sons. The business, however, was gum,’sold for a penny per slab. It wasn’t until 1949 that the Shorins decided they could sell more gum by including “Magic Photo Cards” in the packs, featuring sports stars such as Babe Ruth and Cy Young.
Within three years Topps was producing more than 400 different baseball cards annually. Then, in 1992, after four decades of selling kids candy they no longer wanted, Topps determined it could peddle more cards by eliminating the gum. Besides, buyers hated the fact that, when warm, melting gum stained the valuable cards.
Today’s collectors have more on their minds, as reflected by a recent piece in The Athletic magazine titled, “A guide to football card investing and future speculating.” The focus was on cards produced by Panini, an Italian firm that specialized in selling stickers of soccer stars and expanded to the U.S. in 2009. Having scooped up rights to the NBA and NFL, the company has modernized the trading-card trade and made speculators out of collectors.
Demand is growing for cards manufactured by Panini America and for Topps, which continues to hold rights for Major League Baseball.
As a former collector and current diehard fan, I must say the new card craze leaves me cold. The Athletic reports, “like any investment, speculating on football cards carries risk. But those risks can be minimized given that Panini produces cards for each player in a range of investment levels. Think of these as akin to small-cap, medium-cap and large-cap investments.”
Another recent wrinkle is “box breaks,” in which collectors buy a rights to a certain number of cards in a new box or case, usually opened “live” on YouTube or other social media sites. Topps is conducting a Breaker Showcase next month, with “distinguished guests!” and a chance for someone to win the “Platinum Box Cutter!”
In March, Panini will release its newest NFL set: “Six cards per box, 10 boxes per inner case, two inner cases per master case” in what it calls “stunning Optichrome technology.” These are sold at an online auction, with the price starting at $800 and dropping every five minutes until the set sells out.
My allowance used to be 25 cents a week, which bought me 30 Topps cards and five slabs of stale gum. I’m guessing that, even with inflation, today’s kids are priced out of the Panini auction. But, maybe, if they’re lucky, dad will let them play with the box.
–FOOTNOTE: Peter Funt is a writer and speaker. His book, “Cautiously Optimistic,” is available at Amazon.com and CandidCamera.com. Â Peter Funt. Columns distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons, Inc., newspaper syndicate.
Commentary: When I Look At Her, I See America
Commentary: When I Look At Her, I See America
By Michael Leppert
TheStatehouseFile.com
Amanda Gorman stole the show at the inauguration on Wednesday. After she read her poem, “The Hill We Climb,â€Â I looked her up and followed her on Twitter. She had 80,000 followers. Plenty of other people knew about her before this week. By the time I sat down to write this column on Thursday, her following had grown to over a million. Her words obviously connected.
“Where can we find light in this never-ending shade?†Gorman asks early in her poem.
President Joe Biden was not my first choice to clean up the mess of the last four years. My first choice was Kamala Harris. Why? Because when I look at her, I see America. When she speaks hopefully, I want to listen. When she scolds people from the bench, I am thankful it is directed at someone else. She connects with me. That connection gives me confidence that our values are similar. Research on her public service record only confirms it.
Her personal story is a good one. A great one now, I guess. But it isn’t a story that couldn’t make sense or be reasonably emulated by other Americans. In fact, it is exactly the kind of story that fits into that old “land of opportunity†narrative so many of us grew up using as our nation’s true anthem. No, Harris did not win the lottery. She methodically climbed the stairs in front of her. Each step she took was a logical next one, and she didn’t skip any along the way.
“And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us but what stands before us.†Gorman continued Wednesday.
This remarkable thing happened in the midst of the terrible year of 2020: America elected its first woman vice president. She is also a woman of color, of both African and Asian descent. Most of us see these things as features, not bugs. I view her education at Howard University in Washington, D.C., a historically black university, instead of the exhausting string of Ivy League grads who seem to dominate the highest levels of government as another feature. She went to law school at University of California, Hastings College of Law, which doesn’t mean much to this non-lawyer from east of the Mississippi River. But to a woman who became the district attorney of San Francisco where Hastings is located, it makes perfect sense. Again: feature.
The poem continues,
“…we are far from polished
far from pristine
but that doesn’t mean we are
striving to form a union that is perfect.
We are striving to forge a union with purpose…â€
The drama of recent months stole part of this moment from us. The historic nature of Harris’ ascent has lurked in the background of a historically challenging time. Having achieved resolution of the lingering questions that all presidential campaigns ask, and that the losing campaign could not seem to quit “asking†this time, we can now begin celebrating the moment properly.
Gorman’s stirring words help us: “So let us leave behind a country better than the one we were left with.â€
Can we do that as part of our celebration? Harris’ mere arrival is worthy of reverence, but meaningful accomplishment will take more. Gorman’s challenge acknowledges the lack of inevitability of accomplishment that merely transitioning into power will bring. That will take a unified national effort. Gorman’s use of the words “us†and “we†throughout her verse is important.
I see both of our new first and second families with a comfortable sense of familiarity. Harris’ blended family looks like mine through her role as a stepmother of two young adults. It is something my own wife is experiencing right now too. I see Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, and his two children loving her for who she is at home, like my kids do their own stepmom.
Harris and her family are special in that they look, act and sound more like more of us than the team that preceded them. That connection has real value when the quest for unity and truth are the primary challenges of the day.
Gorman concludes: “For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.â€
Harris is the first. As big a deal as it is, her place at the top is soothing more than it is stunning. So, look directly at her and appreciate her light. It will make it easier for us to also be it.
FOOTNOTE: Michael Leppert is a public and governmental affairs consultant in Indianapolis and writes his thoughts about politics, government and anything else that strikes him at MichaelLeppert.com.
THE EVOLUTION OF MITCH MCCONNELL
THE EVOLUTION OF MITCH MCCONNELL
by Carl Golden
Distributed Exclusively By Cagle Cartoons Newspaper Syndicate.
When Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell took the floor of the chamber and, in his smooth Kentucky tone, declared that President Trump provoked the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, it was a blunt assessment that a clean and lasting break from the ex-president is critical if the party hopes to remain credible and relevant.
With an eye on the 2022 midterms and an opportunity to regain control of the Congress, McConnell made it clear that a comeback by a party dominated by a twice-impeached alleged insurrectionist was doomed.
Coming off a major victory in which more than a dozen seats were gained, Republicans are within striking distance of a House majority.Thirty-four Senate seats will be contested – 20 currently held by Republicans and 14 by Democrats – putting Senate control in play.
For McConnell, who’d remained tight-lipped and circumspect while suffering through the worst excesses of the Trump Administration, his warning that only by breaking free from the cult of Trump could the party restore itself was welcome and overdue.
While McConnell supported the right of the Trump campaign to challenge the election outcomes in several states, he became increasingly uncomfortable at the president’s trafficking in conspiracy theories and his obsessive insistence that he had won a landslide victory which was stolen from him by shadowy outside forces intent on bringing socialism to the country.
He refused to support objections to the official certification of the election results, understanding it would embarrass his party. More than 50 legal challenges had been dismissed for lack of factual basis yet Trump’s team of attorneys slogged on and their arguments grew increasingly bizarre.
It was the storming of the Capitol, the spilling of blood in its corridors and terrorizing members of Congress that was the last straw for McConnell and convinced him to break with Trump in the most public forum possible – the floor of the U.S. Senate.
McConnell said the American people had been lied to by its leaders, and that the president himself had provoked a crisis unlike any in modern history. He implied Trump is beyond rehabilitation, unfit to lead the party and by any political calculation would inflict irreparable damage on Republican candidates if he remained a significant and influential party figure.
McConnell managed to hide his dismay publicly as Trump presided over an erratic and chaotic White House, firing members of his staff, attacking and insulting Cabinet officers and – in the end – even turning on his own vice president.
McConnell’s direct accusation – Trump as provocateur of unbridled violence – signaled the Republican Party must move on, that it cannot afford to defend, dismiss or rationalize the ex-president’s actions.
When Trump left office, his public approval rating stood at 34 percent, slightly higher than that of Richard Nixon, who resigned in 1974 to avoid impeachment and certain conviction for his role in the Watergate break-in.
Trump will maintain a grip on a segment of the party, but over the next four years that support will weaken and his committed base shrink. He’s not one apt to go quietly into that good night, so Trump will likely attempt to control the party’s direction to validate his claim of a rigged election.
There has been speculation he will explore a 2024 candidacy (provided he isn’t barred from office by an act of Congress), create a third party, launch a self-promotional media outlet and encourage his daughter Ivanka to seek a Senate seat in Florida. The unpredictable Trump could do any, all or none.
While McConnell’s warning may have produced a sigh of relief among many party leaders who desired Trump’s departure but held their tongues, it is critical they now step up and join the Senator in wresting control of their party back.
Success of an elected leader relies in considerable measure on two qualities – fear and loyalty. Trump no longer inspires either.
–FOOTNOTE: Carl Golden is a senior contributing analyst with the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University in New Jersey.