Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare.
Directed by Amy Attaway.
Shanklin Theatre
Apr. 19, 20, 25, 26, 27 7:30 pm/Apr. 28 2:00 pm
Adults – $18
Senior citizens, UE Faculty, & non-UE students – $16
Order tickets at 812-488-2031
“READERS FORUM” APRIL 19, 2019
We hope that today’s “READERS FORUMâ€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.
HERE’S WHAT’S ON OUR MIND TODAY
Nothing!
Oh, please take time and read the new “LEFT JAB, RIGHT JAB” article, sit back, and watch CCO posters Ronald Reagan and Joe Biden intellectually slug it out on national issues that might interest you.
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND TODAY?
Todays “Readers’ Poll†question is: How are you voting in the upcoming City Council primary?
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
Mayors of Terre Haute, Gary Address Economic impact Of Gaming Expansion
Mayors of Terre Haute, Gary address The Economic impact of Gaming Expansion
By Emily Ketterer
TheStatehouseFile.com
INDIANAPOLIS — With only days left for Indiana lawmakers to come to a consensus on the gaming expansion bill, the mayors of Terre Haute and Gary are asking them to not forget about the economic development benefit for their cities.
Senate Bill 552, as it stands now, would allow two Gary casinos to merge and move inland from the city’s lakefront, and allow for a new casino in Terre Haute.“552 is obviously a gaming bill, and that’s where all the drama is, that’s where all the conversation is,†Mayor Duke Bennett of Terre Haute Duke Bennett said.
Bennett joined Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson at a Statehouse press conference Thursday to argue that SB 552 isn’t just about gaming, but also about the development of two communities.
After a number of provisions were changed in the House, including making interested companies bid on the Terre Haute casino and banning mobile sports betting, the bill is still a work in progress.
“We know there’s a lot of work still to be done,†Bennett said. “We want to be clear about reminding everyone how important this economic development is.â€
The city of Gary wants to develop Buffington Harbor, where the two casinos currently sit, into a North American intermodal gateway, Freeman-Wilson said. She said this development is important to expand the city’s economy since it sits 30 miles east of Chicago.
“So often, people can focus on the shiny object in the room, and in this case, it’s certainly casinos,†Freeman-Wilson said. “But for us, this has never been primarily about the casino.â€
The mayors said hundreds of jobs are at stake in the casino expansions. And, Bennett said, the revenue will reap long-term benefits, helping the cities complete more projects to improve the quality of life and boosting state coffers.
“It’s about a $75 million impact for the state of new revenue if we can get both of these casinos done,†Bennett said.
Bennett said there are pros and cons to the changes in the bill, including the bidding process for his city’s new casino. Three interested gaming companies will be chosen by a county advisory board to compete in a process to bid on the new casino, with the first bid starting at $25 million.
“My take on it is, we’re just seeking a casino,†Bennett said. “I’m all about the open market and being able to get the right proposal in place, so if that’s the way it ends up, I’m fine with that.â€
Near the end of the conference, reporters asked the mayors if they felt casino bosses should have easy access to public officials, in reference to a story published by The Indianapolis Star about Gov. Eric Holcomb’s paid-for plane ride with a casino boss that owns the two Gary casinos in 2018.
Bennett said it’s important that proper ethics are followed, but said people who make decisions for the state and members of the private sector are always going to have conversations about how to make Indiana better.
“At the end of the day,†he said. “I trust everyone involved in the process to make the right decisions, do the right thing.â€
FOOTNOTE: Emily Ketterer is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.
The CCO Presents “Outside The Box Speaker Series”
Steve Hammer to Serve as Chairman for the CCO
“Outside The Box Speaker Series”
It was announced today by the Managing Editor of the City-County Observer, Timothy Justin Phillips, that he is planning to launch the “Outside the Box Speaker Series” in the near future.
Phillips says this series will feature unique and insightful stories of success and perseverance from prominent business leaders that tend to fly under the public radar.
Plans are to hold this speaking series on a monthly basis. We will be holding this event at an area location convenient to the business community and the attendees.
We understand that there are a lot of successful entrepreneurs who, because of economic, technological, or political challenges, have experienced a negative impact on their businesses.
We are going to actively search for business people who went through economic adversity due to bureaucratic restrictions, governmental intervention, or increased competition, but had the good business sense to “Think Outside The Box” to allow their products or services to continue to thrive. We also hope that this will turn out to be a great resource for developing businesses.
We are pleased to announce that well-known businessman and community leader Steve Hammer has agreed to serve as chairman of this important event. Mr. Hammer will announce his committee members sometime next week.
“LEFT JAB AND RIGHT JAB†APRIL 19, 2019
“LEFT JAB AND RIGHT JABâ€
“RIGHT Jab and Left Jab†was created because we have two (2) commenters that post on a daily basis either in our “IS IT TRUE†or “Readers Forumâ€columns concerning National or International issues.  Recently several of our commenters complained that the posts made by Joe Biden and Ronald Reagan are either too lengthy or off-topic.
Joe Biden and Ronald Reagan comments are mostly about issues of National interest.  Most of our IS IT TRUE columns are about local or state issues so we have decided to give Mr. Biden and Mr. Reagan exclusive access to our newly created “LEFT JAB and RIGHT JAB† column. They will be given exclusively to discuss national or world issues that they feel passionate about.
If they decide to make any future posts on the “Readers Forum†or “IS IT TRUE†columns we expect them to stay on topic.
We shall be posting the “LEFT JAB†AND “RIGHT JAB†twice a week.  Oh, “Left Jab†is the liberal view and the “Right Jab is representative of the more conservative view. Also, any reader who would like to react to the written comments of the two gentlemen is free to do so.
Any comments posted in “RIGHT JAB AND “LEFT JAB†column do not represent the views or opinions of the City-County Observer, our advertisers, our readers.
EPD Plans to Increase Driving Patrols This April
EPD Plans to Increase Driving Patrols This April
APRIL 17TH, 2019 
TYRONE MORRIS EVANSVILLE, INDIANA
The Evansville Police Department along with 230 law-enforcement agencies across Indiana are increasing patrols statewide to catch driving violations.
Troopers are looking for impaired and dangerous drivers as well as speeding, following too closely, making unsafe lane changes, driving aggressively or failing to buckle up.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is funding overtime traffic enforcement.
Finally Kids Are First
Government Can Be Charged With Educational Neglect!
by: Gail Riecken, CCO Statehouse Editor
Parents and charters involved in virtual education have a wake-up call in SB 567. “Educational neglect,” once commonly used for talking about education issues and incarcerated youth–or parental responsibility and truant children–has been expanded to include school officials involved in virtual education.
SB 567 reads:  “In the case of a virtual charter school, the virtual charter school must include the methodology used to determine attendance rate.”
This means that truancy in virtual charter schools must now be monitored by the school and officials must have a way to monitor that the young people are taking tests. Schools must include their methodology and the results in a report.
This is great news! As speakers on the House floor at the 3rd reading of SB 567 said, children are falling through the cracks under this State government-sponsored 80 million dollar program.
And, do you and I have responsibility? I think so. We must press legislators to do more.
Rep. Ed Delaney cautioned that more must change to protect the children. He warned legislators that there is no punishment if the virtual schools don’t comply. Like public schools, these charters receive their per-student money when the annual student count is set; and they do not have to give back the money if the child isn’t there after that date.
Also, warned Delaney, there can’t be any follow through on monitoring in a virtual school situation since they don’t have truant officers, social workers or teachers who specifically attend to these truant children’s needs.
As Rep Delaney said: “Kids are adrift. Educational neglect can go on by a parent but also by the government.â€