We hope that today’s “IS IT TRUE” 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?

IS IT TRUE we predict that Mayor Winnecke will run unopposed for re-election in the upcoming general election?  …that Mayor Winnecke has been a charismatic and hard working Mayor?  …he is very likable? …he is politically savvy and well connected? …the city employees are seemly happy with the way the Mayor treats them? …he’s been well schooled on how to build a political war chest? …Mr. Winnecke only political flaw is that he isn’t managing our tax dollar dollars in a prudent manner which in turn has caused him cash flow and deficit spending challenges?  …we hope during his third term that Mr. Winnecke will finally learn how to say the word “NO” too costly capital projects that should be put on the back burner?

IS IT TRUE that for more than 15 years this column has served the City of Evansville and Vanderburgh County as the place to go to learn things that are going on in local government that other media is reluctant to cover?…much good has come from things posted in “IS IT TRUE” and the comment section has for the most part made the City-County Observer the go-to place for open constructive dialog?

IS IT TRUE that over the years this column has served the financial health of the taxpayers of Evansville well and we are proud to have done so?…as a reminder one of the earliest breaking stories that the CCO profiled was when a former Mayor and his associates conspired secretly to eliminate the Homestead Tax Credit?…the CCO was alerted to this by one of our most trusted “MOLES” and we exposed this “SNEGAL” (Sneaky but Legal) meeting and the amount of money that the taxpayers of Vanderburgh County were about to be fleeced out of?…that number was $5 million per year which by now has amounted to $50 million that the CCO’s exposure of this sneaky dirty trick saved the taxpayers of Evansville?

IS IT TRUE that once upon a time the recently acquired Vectren Corporation was poised to stick the ratepayers of Southwest Indiana with roughly $30 million for a dense pack upgrade?…between the CCO, Occupy Evansville, and the mobilization effort to bring a meeting of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to Evansville and when push came to shove, Vectren’s best-laid plans were thwarted and the dense pack technology was not passed on to the ratepayers?

IS IT TRUE that from drug addict needles in public playgrounds to potholes and from decrepit sewers to antiquated water pipes, exposing backroom political deals and government waste the CCO has been the watchdog for the people against ignorant and malignant local government actions?

IS IT TRUE that our finest hour, we exposed the Earthcare Energy project as a scam and saved an oblivious city council from handing $4 million to a project team that didn’t even have a patent they claimed to have?…through all of this we taught Evansville the meaning of the term VETTING?…we hope this is a lesson that is never forgotten?

IS IT TRUE we are considering only publishing the “IS IT TRUE” column once a week in the very near future because of the time it takes to research and create one?

Todays“Readers Poll” question is: Do you feel that Mayor Winnecke has earned a third term?

Please go to our link of our media partner Channel 44 News located in the upper right-hand corner of the City-County Observer so you can get the up-to-date news, weather, and sports.

We are pleased to provide obituaries from several area funeral homes at no costs.  Over the next several weeks we shall be adding additional obituaries from other local funeral homes.  Please scroll down the paper and you shall see a listing of them.

.If you would like to advertise on the CCO please contact us at City-County Observer@live.com

FOOTNOTE:  Any comments posted in this column do not represent the views or opinions of the City-County Observer or our advertisers.”READERS FORUM” 

AGENDA

Agenda Attachment:

Memorandum Attachment:

A.	ORDINANCE G-2019-05 An Ordinance Adding Chapter 9.40 (Unsolicited Materials) of the Evansville Municipal Code Sponsor(s): McGinn, Mosby, Weaver Discussion Led By: ASD Chair Mosby Discussion Date: 5/13/2019

G-2019-05 Attachment:

B.

ORDINANCE G-2019-06 An Ordinance to Vacate Certain Public Ways or Public Places Within The City of Evansville, Indiana, Commonly Known as a Part of Market Street Which is Adjacent to 428 NW 3rd Street, In the City of Evansville, Indiana. Sponsor(s): Mosby Discussion Led By: ASD Chair Mosby Discussion Date: 5/13/2019 Notify: Marco DeLucio, ZSWS

G-2019-06 Attachment:

C.

ORDINANCE R-2019-06 An Ordinance to Rezone Certain Real Estate in the City of Evansville, State of Indiana, More Commonly Known as 1012-1020 N. Governor Street Petitioner: Habitat for Humanity of Evansville, Inc. Owner: Habitat for Humanity of Evansville, Inc. Requested Change: C4 to R2 Ward: 3 Hayden Representative: Beth Folz, Habitat for Humanity of Evansville, Inc.

R-2019-06 Attachment:

D.

ORDINANCE R-2019-07 An Ordinance to Rezone Certain Real Estate in the City of Evansville, State of Indiana, More Commonly Known as 313 E. 317 E. Louisiana Street Petitioner: Habitat for Humanity of Evansville, Inc. Owner: Habitat for Humanity of Evansville, Inc. Requested Change: C4 to R2 Ward: 3 Hayden Representative: Beth Folz, Habitat for Humanity of Evansville, Inc.

R-2019-07 Attachment:

A.

ORDINANCE F-2019-07 An Ordinance of the Common Council of the City of Evansville Authorizing Transfers of Appropriations, Additional Appropriations and Repeal and Re-Appropriation of Funds for Various City Funds Sponsor(s): Weaver Discussion Led By: Finance Chair Weaver Discussion Date: 4/22/2019 Notify: Russ Lloyd, Jr., Controller

F-2019-07 Attachment:

B.	ORDINANCE F-2019-08 AMENDED An Ordinance of the Common Council of the City of Evansville Authorizing Additional Appropriations & Re-Appropriations within the Department of Metropolitan Development Sponsor(s): Weaver Discussion Led By: Finance Chair Weaver Discussion Date: 4/22/2019

F-2019-08 Amended Attachment:

C.	ORDINANCE R-2019-05 An Ordinance to Rezone Certain Real Estate in the City of Evansville, State of Indiana, More Commonly Known as 316 N Tekoppel Avenue Petitioner: Debra Highman Owner: Debra Highman Requested Change: C1 to R1 Ward: 6 Brinkmeyer Representative: Debra Highman

R-2019-05 Attachment:

A.	RESOLUTION C-2019-06 A Resolution Approving an Amendment to Amend the Boundary of the Jacobsville Redevelopment Area Sponsor(s): Adams, Brinkmeyer Discussion Led By: President Brinkmeyer  Discussion Date: 4/22/2019

C-2019-06 Attachment:

A.	THE NEXT MEETING of the Common Council will be Monday, May 13, 2019 at 5:30 p.m.

B.	APPROVAL OF 2019 YOUTH GRANT RECOMMENDATIONS

C.	ADDITIONAL MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS

Lilly King Growing Up as She Reaches Conclusion of Her NCAA Career

written by DAVID RIEDER

for SWIMMING WORLD

King was teary-eyed on the last day of the meet as Indiana closed in on victory, only to break down completely when she saw diver Jessica Parratto, a sixth-year senior and the only other U.S. Olympian on the Indiana team, in tears herself. King called the title “probably one of my favorite moments of my career so far.”

For the first time this season, Looze saw King embrace a leadership role on the Indiana team, stepping out of her usual place as the point-scorer who modeled both excellence and self-confidence for her younger teammates but rarely vocalized anything. The coach’s voice flushed with pride as he spoke about King’s transformation.

“Lilly has been great at taking care of Lilly, and that’s what great athletes do—they take care of themselves,” Looze said. “But she really took care of her freshmen and her teammates. I’ve never seen her leadership any better.”

King still considers herself “a big goofball who likes to have fun,” but she has grown up. The crucible of the Olympics and what came after forcing her to.

When King thinks back on her experience almost three years ago in Rio, she realizes that “I had no clue what was going on.” She remembers eating McDonald’s at nearly every meal during the Games, standing in line for a half-hour each time, and she spent each night exploring the Olympic Village in hopes of acquiring pins from non-U.S. athletes.

And yet, she won. Twice, actually, with golds in the 100 breast and as a member of the U.S. women’s 400 medley relay. “I had convinced myself that I was going to win, and I did,” King recalls now.

But the moment that forced her to grow up faster than she had ever planned came the night before her golden swim. After Russia’s Yulia Efimova won the first semi-final of the women’s 100 breast, NBC cameras captured King wagging her finger at a television screen in the ready room showing video of Efimova.

And after King posted a quicker time to win the second semi-final heat, she told a captive TV audience in a post-race interview that because of Efimova’s checkered history with banned substances, the Russian didn’t deserve to be competing in Rio.

“It was quite literally overnight that I became famous or whatever,” King said. “I remember before my semi-final of 100 breast, I went over to the pool and I had 5000 followers on Instagram. I came back, and I had 30,000 followers on Instagram. It was insane.”

And then when King returned from Brazil, she realized that seemingly everyone in her hometown of Evansville, Ind., knew exactly who she was. She found that going out to eat with her family was no longer a peaceful experience, and she began wearing a hat or sunglasses in public to hide her face.

“In Bloomington, it wasn’t really an issue—people would say hi, and that was it,” King said. “But when I would go home to Evansville, people would lose their minds. They would stop and say, ‘I don’t mean to bug you.’ ‘Okay, but you’re bugging me.’”

Shortly after the Olympics, King attended an age group swim meet to visit with her old club coach and old teammates. Instead of a relaxing reunion, she found herself pinned up against the wall signing autographs and taking pictures.

“At the time, I was like, ‘Oh, I’m old enough to handle this,’ which I was, but thinking about the kids on our team who are 19 going through that, like our freshman, it’s kind of crazy.”

Now a senior at Indiana, King will head to this month’s NCAA championships with a chance at another slice of history—becoming the first woman to sweep both breaststroke events in four consecutive seasons. Previously, Stanford’s Tara Kirk won four straight titles in the 100 breast and three in the 200 breast, while USC’s Rebecca Soni won a pair of 100 breast titles to go along with her four 200 breast national championships.

“I’ve never thought about the glory of winning eight titles, but it just happened,” King said. “I won my freshman year, and I wanted to keep winning. It’ll be cool, and thinking that I’ll be the first one to do it is also pretty cool. Knowing what I put into those swims and knowing what happened behind the scenes is pretty important to me.”

When she won as a freshman, King became the first swimmer to ever crack 57 in the 100-yard breast with her 56.85. With improvement always on her mind, King expected that she would soon break into the 55-second territory. When she didn’t break 56 at her sophomore year NCAA championships, King said of her race, “it sucked.” One year later, after touching in 56.25 for a new American record, King said, “I kind of expected more from myself.”

That left her senior year, and King decided midway through the season that she wanted to break 56 for the first time in Bloomington at the Big Ten Championships. So she did, touching the wall in 55.88—a whopping 1.41 seconds quicker than the 57.23 that had been the American record when King began her collegiate career.

“It was just that feeling of, ‘Finally, I did it.’ Obviously, 55 is fast, but it doesn’t feel as fast as it should because, in my head, I’ve been going 55 for so long. That’s all I’ve been thinking about, going 55,” King said. “It took a couple of months of me telling myself that this was the week that I was going to break 55. It was so in my head that there was no way I wasn’t going to do it.”

At the NCAA championships, there should be little drama in the 100 breasts, with King, seeded first by 1.86 seconds. Texas A&M Aggies Anna Belousova and Sydney Pickrem could make the 200 breast a bit more competitive, but King’s American record of 2:02.60 is more than two seconds faster than the lifetime best of anyone else in the heat.

After that, King will become a professional swimmer and turn her attention full-time to long course. Looze expects that once King gets through the transition to the professional lifestyle, which can be tricky, that she will be the “perfect pro.”

“It’s a really cool time to be just turning pro,” King said. “We have so many new opportunities to swim, between the FINA (champions) series and ISL. We have all these new things that are happening, so I’m kind of excited about that, getting to race more and travel more. I’m excited I finally don’t have to talk to compliance when I need money. It’s kind of a new adventure for me.”

King admitted that she’s still irritated about a relatively disappointing summer of 2018 when she failed to top Efimova for the top time in the world in the 100 breasts and finished second behind fellow American Micah Sumrall in the 200 breasts at the Pan Pacific Championships. King’s attitude and focus soured with the knowledge that there was no showdown with Efimova waiting for her at the end of the summer.

How does she know that slippage won’t happen again when the stakes are bigger? Because King won’t allow it. That’s how she operates. When fully committed to a goal, like swimming the first 55-second 100-yard breast at the Big Ten Championships, she locks in.

“When it comes down to it, I’m going to swim fast when I need to swim fast,” King said. “I think with the circumstances of the meet this summer, I swam as well as I could. When it comes down to crunch time, I’ll be ready.”

But even with all this high-level swimming on the horizon—and the next Olympics just 16 months away—there’s another piece to King’s life right now, a four-hour chunk of her day where that killer instinct is absolutely useless. It’s a chunk of time when no one cares that she is the best breaststroker in the world.

The last bit of her undergraduate experience no longer includes going to class but rather teaching. King is a student-teacher, working with middle schoolers in physical education. King adores the group she works with, calling these teenagers and pre-teenagers “so much better than adults.”

This is the time when King can be her pure “goofball” self with no worries about the public presentation or someone’s doping history.

“I love that when I go to school, it’s four hours every day where I don’t have to be Lilly King. I’m Ms. King. I’m their teacher. They don’t care that I’ve won this or that. They love that I’m verified on Instagram. I think that’s hilarious. It’s time to focus on other people and not myself,” King said. “It’s four hours where I don’t have to think about swimming.”

This real-world experience has provided some perspective—and even a dose of humility. Before the world again encounters Lilly King as a key Olympic actor in Tokyo, she’s embracing this chance to grow up.

Youth In Foster Care Struggle To Keep Up In School, Study Finds

TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS– Joshua Christian attended four different high schools while in the foster care system and none of the credits transferred from one school to the next, leaving him surprised that he was able to graduate on time.

Christian, 21, of Indianapolis, was at the Indiana Statehouse Tuesday as results of Indiana’s first annual report on foster youth educational outcomes was discussed at a media event. Those attending, including lawmakers and foster care advocates, urged legislators and policymakers to create a comprehensive state-level plan to support foster children in K-12 schools.

“Most young people are really behind their education and they really deserve a chance at having that shot of a successful life,” Christian, a member of the Indiana Youth Advisory Board, said after the event.

Nearly 65 percent of Indiana students in foster care graduate high school, compared to 88.3 percent of their peers, according to the report. Also, nearly 21 percent of Indiana students in foster care receive a graduation waiver compared to 8.3 percent of their peers.

“Young people like me, they are probably struggling with the idea of security,” Christian said. “When you’re in foster care, you don’t know where you’re going to be in two months, you don’t know where you’re going to be in three months, you’re in survivor mode.”

Advocates say lawmakers should study what additional resources are needed to help foster children. They also argued for a tax credit program that would support nonprofits, provide family preservation services, and deliver support to foster children throughout Indiana.

Advocates point out to legislatures that all foster care youth should have the same opportunities and abilities to receive their education as all Hoosier children have.

Brent Kent, CEO of Indiana Connected by 25, stressed to those at the event that youth in foster care have serious education needs that must be recognized and addressed.

“Our goal is to support their success and by age 25, they are housed, employed, financially stable and have completed some workforce or college,” Kent said. “In our work, one of the biggest hurdles to their successful transition to adulthood is the lack of equality K-12 education.”

Last year, the non-profit organization started collecting data for the first time on the education outcomes for foster children throughout Indiana.

Other Data From The Report:

• One in five can be homeless within two years of leaving the state’s custody;
• 50 percent are unemployed at age 24;
• Only 3 percent will obtain a college degree;
• Indiana has more children in the states foster care system than any surrounding state, even those with twice the population;
• 21 percent of Indiana students in foster care are suspended each year compared to 8.9 percent of their peers.
• Black students in foster care are expelled at almost four times the rate of their peers and only 3.2 percent pass the 10^th grade math ISTEP.

Rep. Robert Behning, R-Indianapolis, said the data show that the state doesn’t even know where all the foster children are located.

“Out of the 17,000 students that we know are foster kids, the department can only locate about half of those, so we don’t know exactly how to provide those services,” Behning said.

Rep. Dale DeVon, R-Granger, pointed out that sometimes some of the youth commit crimes just to get locked up because jail is better than their home life.

“You truly have to become your own self-advocate to be successful,” Christian said. “The unknown is what is really scary.”

FOOTNOTE:  Bryan Wells is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

App Supports Healthy Hoosier Families, Fights Infant Mortality

APRIL 21ST, 2019 AMANDA PORTER INDIANA