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IS IT TRUE APRIL 3, 2019

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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 that the political deal made to enable one of the Gary, Indiana casinos to move to a location in Terre Haute there was a provision that was going to pay the City of Evansville a sum of $6 million to compensate us for the anticipated loss of business from people who will choose the new Terre Haute casino because of location?

IS IT TRUE the latest version of the political deal has removed that $6 million for City of Evansville that would put a lot of cash into the tax coffers of the City of Evansville? …the casino at French Lick was scheduled to get $2.5 million over several years if this deal passes and that has not changed?

IS IT TRUE the CCO does not understand how something that had been calculated and agreed to by elected public officials can be cast aside so easily?…the CCO feels that some of the local people in a positions of political power like Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke, Ways and Means member-State Representative Hollie Sullivan, Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch from Vanderburgh County and Governor Eric Holcomb should intervene and get that $6 million that was originally supposed to be allocated back to  the City of Evansville? …”it’s a well-known fact that the Governor has final say over the plans to move two Gary casinos to more lucrative locations”?  …if the legislature eliminates the provision of Evansville receiving the $6 million dollars the Governor can veto the actions taken by the State Legislative body?

IS IT TRUE according to the Indy Star the Chairman and CEO of Spectacle Entertainment, Rod Ratcliff have contributed more than $1 million to the Republican Governors Association since 2016?   ..the Indy Star reported that the RGA became a financial lifeline for Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb in 2016 after his campaign got a late start and was then restricted from accessing the campaign funds of his predecessor, now-Vice President Mike Pence?

IS IT TRUE the Indy Star also reported: “that since 2016, Rod Ratcliff’s companies have given $577,500 to the Republican State Leadership Committee, a national organization that helps down-ballot statewide and legislative candidates”?  …”this group reportedly gave more than $550,000 to the campaigns of Holcomb’s lieutenant governor, Suzanne Crouch, and the Indiana House Republican Campaign Committee, which is led by House Speaker Brian Bosma”?

IS IT TRUE that our readers feel when elected officials get a backdoor $500,000 political contributions that it should be considered illegal? …as we all know, it looks like politicians and real people have two sets of laws?  … it looks like politicians can legally get away with things that regular people and businesses can’t?

IS IT TRUE over the year’s governmental watchdogs have expressed concerns that amendments made to casino gaming laws were seemingly motivated by corporations or individuals giving donations to the right political person or political group? …we wonder why hasn’t one of these governmental watchdog groups hasn’t asked the proper enforcement authorities to look into any possible ethical wrongdoing in anyone in elected office or the gaming business?

IS IT TRUE it was announced yesterday by the Indiana Firebird-Evansville head football coach Nick Hart that there will not be an Indiana Firebirds indoor football team at the Ford Center this year?  …all we can say to the never tested coach of the Indiana Firebirds-Evansville Nick Hart is why didn’t he realize that the NGL was a “no go” a long time ago?   … Coach Hart should have gotten a hint that the NGL was in trouble when the home and practice uniforms were never ordered, when the home games playing turf was never ordered, when the arrangement to house his out-of-town players during the season never happened, when the management of the Ford Center didn’t post the schedule of games to be played at Ford Center and most important was why wasn’t he and other employees of the NGL weren’t paid for their services?

IS IT TRUE  the news that the Indiana Firebirds-Evansville will not be playing at the Ford Center this year is no surprise to the City-County Observer and our readers because we been projecting this news for several months?  …looks like the CEO of the Ford Center and our City officials have egg on their faces because they didn’t properly vent this proposed arena football deal?  …they could have saved face if they only read the numerous articles we published during the last several months concerning the legal and financial challenges that the National Gridiron Football Leauge were experiencing?

IS IT TRUE that the newly appointed Evansville Region Representative of the United States Senator Mike Braun is doing a credible job?  …Steven W. Hammer is working day and night carrying the message that the United States Senator from Indiana Mike Braun is a man of his word by following through with his campaign promises?  …we give five  (5) cheers to Steve Hammer and the United States Senator Mike Braun?

IS IT TRUE that Lori Lightfoot, a former U.S. attorney, has been elected Mayor of Chicago? …she will be the first black woman and first openly gay person to lead the nation’s third-largest city?  …Lightfoot beat Toni Preckwinkle, also a black female candidate, in the runoff election Tuesday?   …the two competed after emerging as the top vote-getters among a record 14 candidates in the mayoral election in February?

Todays “Readers Poll” question is: If your an elected official and someone gives your campaign $500,000 what do you feel they expect you to do from them?

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” 

 

 

 

Commentary: ‘Exoneration,’ Then And Now

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Commentary: ‘Exoneration,’ Then And Now

April 1, 2019
By John Krull
TheStatehouseFile.com 

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oliver North started yelling.

He and I, along with several off-duty police officers, were riding in a van. He was on a book tour.

This was in 1993, during the early days of Bill Clinton’s presidency, and several years after North had emerged as a national figure in the waning days of Ronald Reagan’s administration.

North had captured America’s attention by testifying before Congress about his contacts with foreign governments and agents in the complicated scandal known as the Iran-Contra affair. The scandal involved breaking American law to sell weapons to Iran and channel the funds to the Contras, a right-wing rebel group in Nicaragua.

During his testimony, North acknowledged that, as a member of Reagan’s national security team, he’d lied to Congress and even other members of the administration about his Iran-Contra dealings.

But he also displayed a potent charisma, a personal magnetism that transformed him overnight from a midlevel White House staffer into a man on horseback leading the rebel hordes as they stormed the castle.

In some ways, he was Donald Trump before Trump turned to politics.

What prompted North to start yelling was a question I asked him.

When we talked, he was preparing to run for Virginia’s U.S. Senate seat. I asked him how he, as a U.S. senator, would react if a member of Bill Clinton’s national security team did what North had done – lied to Congress about a matter of national security.

North erupted.

As the van rolled along, he stood up from his seat and leaned over me. There was no comparison, he yelled. He loved America, he said. That alone justified anything he might have done.

When North’s role in the Iran-Contra affair was first disclosed, he was fired from the Reagan administration and charged with committing 16 felonies. He initially was convicted on three of them, including accepting money illegally and obstructing a congressional inquiry.

But North had testified to Congress under a pledge of limited immunity. His defense team argued, on appeal, that the prosecution had used North’s congressional testimony against him, thus violating the limited immunity agreement.

The appeals court agreed, and North’s conviction was overturned.

Most people would call that getting off on a technicality, but North didn’t.

He said the court’s ruling “exonerated” him.

I’ve thought about that long-ago conversation as I move through the nation’s capital. The talk here now is all about the special counsel’s report submitted by Robert Mueller III and summarized with astonishing rapidity and brevity by Attorney General William Barr.

It’s another case of yet another charismatic man on horseback claiming that his love of America entitles him to ignore America’s laws while proclaiming that legal technicalities “exonerate” him.

North did run for the Senate the year after he talked with me.

He lost.

Part of the reason was that his lies caught up with him. Once the light generated by his televised testimony faded and the American people could think about what he’d said, they weren’t as enthralled by North’s charm.

They realized he was arguing he was above the law.

The Republican he wanted to succeed in the Senate, John Warner, refused to endorse him. Former First Lady Nancy Reagan called North a liar on national television.

North went on to a long career of preaching to the right-wing choir on Fox News and conservative talk radio. He’s now the president of the National Rifle Association.

In none of these places was his record of treating the truth as a disposable commodity considered an obstacle to employment.

It appears now that a more complete version of the Mueller report soon will be released to Congress and the American public.

The bet here is that, once people have a chance to see it and ponder its findings, they will be less likely to accept the contentions of the president and his team that the report “exonerates” him and them.

Their contention, after all, amounts to an admission that, while they didn’t cooperate with the Russians to sway the 2016 election, they did allow themselves to be used by the Russians in that effort.

They weren’t conspirators.

They were dupes.

As in the case of Oliver North, the dust will settle.

It always does.

FOOTNOTE:  John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism, host of “No Limits” WFYI 90.1 Indianapolis and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

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Indiana Firebirds Will Not Play in 2019 Season

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Indiana Firebirds Will Not Play in 2019 Season

APRIL 2ND, 2019 TYRONE MORRIS EVANSVILLE, INDIANA

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The Indiana Firebirds will not have a 2019 season. The National Gridiron League sited a ‘potential change in ownership’ for the reason the Firebirds will not be playing this year.

According to the Evansville Ford Center’s website, eight home games were removed from the site.

44News is told there is a potential 2020 season.

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Igleheart Brothers, Inc. By Pat Sides

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This view of the Igleheart Brothers plant is dated August 1951, soon after the massive grain storage elevators in the center of the photo were built. The business evolved from a modest flour mill the Igleheart family opened in downtown at Fifth and Locust streets in 1856.

In 1904, the mill relocated to 1600 First Avenue, where it manufactured the successful Swans Down brand of cake flour. Igleheart Brothers merged with General foods in 1926, a partnership that produced the first instant cake mix by the mid-1950s.

The new grain storage elevators significantly enlarged the company’s storage capacity, making Evansville one of the nation’s major grain receiving centers. The large plant is now gone, but the elevators still stand. 

Ivy Tech Community College Speaker Series to Feature Chamber CEO Tara Barney

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President and CEO of the Southwest Indiana Chamber Tara Barney, will be the culminating speaker in the 2019 School of Business Speaker Series at Ivy Tech Community College on Wednesday, April 10. This presentation in the annual series sponsored by Banterra Bank, will be at 6 p.m. in Vectren Auditorium.  It is free and open to the public.

Barney will present the keynote address, “Intentional Collisions.”  She said the topic will address how to apply the science of “thinking outside the box” by seeking out spontaneous opportunities to build a stronger community in the workplace. “As you put yourself out there with diverse thinkers, you will find your superpower, your unique leadership skill,” Barney said. She will address how to pick up some ideas on how to identify it, harness it, and hone it to build your personal career brand.

A public reception is planned prior to this presentation at 5:30 p.m. in the foyer of the auditorium.

Barney serves as the President & CEO of the Southwest Indiana Chamber and works with 18 other staff members to serve over 1,500 chamber members. Prior to joining the Southwest Indiana Chamber in March 2018, she served in a similar position with the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce for seven years. The Quad Cities Chamber is a business and economic development organization serving a bi-state metropolitan area of 400,000 west of Chicago along the Illinois and Iowa border and worked effectively with more than 30,000 businesses, including several Fortune 500 companies.

Prior to her role at the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce, she was the President and CEO of the Iowa Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce (formerly known as DavenportOne). The latter organization merged with the Illinois Quad City Chamber in 2010, thus achieving a long-standing interest of the business and civic community to have a single, regional business organization overseeing economic and community advancement.

Through Quad Cities Chamber predecessor organizations, she has nearly 20 years of extensive chamber experience and in working on economic and community development initiatives.  When residing in Ohio, Barney held various roles in economic development with the Cities of Columbus and Toledo in both the public and private sector.  Prior to her tenure in the Quad Cities, Barney resided in Southwest Florida and served on the business attraction staff of the Lee County/Fort Myers Florida Economic Development Office.

Barney holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Administration from Miami University and a M.P.A. from the John Glenn College of Public Policy at The Ohio State University where she was the recipient of the Pacesetter Award.

For additional information, contact Jamie Purcell, instructor of Business Administration, at  jpurcell26@ivytech.edu.

New Event Center Coming to Newburgh

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New Event Center Coming to Newburgh

APRIL 2ND, 2019 TYRONE MORRIS INDIANA, NEWBURGH, WARRICK COUNTY

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Newburgh is getting a new multi-million-dollar event center. According to a press release, the State of Indiana approved 16,000 square foot multi-use facility that will be built within the 140 acres of Friedman Park in Newburgh next to Victoria National Golf Club.

The Friedman Park Event Center is a $4.7 million project and when combined with the construction, it’s an $11.6 million transformative regional destination.

The event center’s primary purpose will be to host events, conferences, and corporate events as well as community and business functions.

Through Indiana’s Regional Cities Initiative, it was awarded $2 million in state funding, which encourages communities across the state to work together to transform their regions into nationally-recognized destinations for talent.

Officials expect the project to be completed in 2020.

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Marriage Licenses Issued For Vanderburgh County

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Marriage Licenses Issued

Lt. Governor Crouch: Public schedule for April 3

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Below is Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch’s public schedule for April 3, 2019.

Wednesday, April 3
What: Crouch speaks at Women’s Statehouse Day
Host: Public Servants’ Prayer
When: 10:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., with Crouch remarks at 11:15 a.m., ET
Where: Indiana Statehouse, South Atrium, 200 W. Washington St., Indianapolis, IN 46204

Registration spots available for Otters’ Education Day games

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The Evansville Otters will host two Education Day games during the 2019 exhibition schedule on May 1 and May 8 at 10 a.m.
With less than a month left to register, there are spots still available for both games. Schools wanting to attend must register ahead of game date.
To register, schools can fill out the registration form and submit to the Evansville Otters front office by mailing to 23 Don Mattingly Way, Evansville, IN 47711 with attention to Elspeth Urbina, or email to eurbina@evansvilleotters.com. Forms can also be dropped off at the Bosse Field front office Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Registration forms and more information can be found online at evansvilleotters.com.
Registration per person features a game day ticket, an Education Day workbook, access to giant inflatables, and for an additional fee, a meal that includes a hot dog, chips and water.
Last season, Bosse Field had over 5,500 students and teachers walk through its gates for the Otters’ Education Day games.
For more information or any questions, contact Elspeth Urbina by calling (812)-435-8686 or via email at eurbina@evansvilleotters.com.
The Otters will open the 25th season celebration against the Southern Illinois Miners on May 10 at Bosse Field.
To purchase a season ticket or group outing package, call (812) 435-8686 or visit the Bosse Field front office at 23 Don Mattingly Way, Evansville, Ind. The front office is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

COA Upholds Trial Court’s Denial

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Katie Stancombe for www.theindianalawyer.com

The Indiana Court of Appeals declined to reverse a trial court’s decision not to waive a juvenile murder case to adult court after it concluded there was sufficient evidence to support the decision.

At the age of 12, J.T. committed an act that would be considered murder if committed by an adult when she repeatedly stabbed her stepmother in the face and chest with a knife, causing her death. Prior to the attack, J.T. displayed symptoms of severe mental illness, including hearing voices that told her to hurt people.

J.T., who was eventually diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, was initially incarcerated in the Elkhart County Juvenile Detention Center. But a report from J.T.’s guardian ad litem detailing the girl’s mental illness symptoms led to her alternative placement in LaRue Carter Hospital, a facility operated by the Family and Social Services Administration’s Division of Mental Health and Addiction, for mental health treatment.

J.T. began to show signs of improvement in the hospital, and a subsequent competency assessment determined she was competent to stand trial. Thus, the state moved to waive J.T. into adult court.

But the Elkhart Circuit Court denied the state’s motion. In its ruling, the court said J.T. “demonstrated that it would be in the best interest of the child and the safety and welfare of the community for [her] to remain within the juvenile justice system.”

Both parties appealed – with the state challenging the denial of its motion and J.T. urging the Court of Appeals to dismiss the appeal – and J.T. was placed in a secure residential facility in Ohio. The appellate panel ultimately denied J.T.’s request to dismiss State of Indiana v. J.T., 18A-JV-1491, but also affirmed the original judgment of the juvenile court.

On cross-appeal, J.T. argued the state lacked authority to seek interlocutory review of the juvenile court’s denial of its motion to waive jurisdiction. Specifically, J.T. argued that the interlocutory appeal would conflict with the 10-day statutory deadline under Indiana Code section 31-37-11-3 (1997); that the state failed to show the case met any of the criteria set forth in I.C. 35-38-4-2(6), and; that she was injured by the state’s interlocutory appeal because several residential mental health providers declined to accept her for treatment while her case is pending.

But the appellate panel determined there were sufficient grounds for an interlocutory appeal and, thus, denied the motion to dismiss.

The COA also rejected the state’s contentions that the juvenile court should have waived jurisdiction over J.T. and that its decision lacked sufficient evidentiary support.

Conceding that the crime was very severe and was, to some degree, premeditated, the COA nevertheless found that J.T. displayed symptoms of severe mental illness and suffered a traumatic childhood fraught with underlying severe physical abuse, emotional neglect and abuse, severe sexual abuse and physical neglect, as revealed in testimony by numerous medical professionals on her behalf.

Specifically, the appellate court noted that despite her slight improvement while hospitalized, J.T. continued to experience symptoms of “psychosis, disassociation, posttraumatic stress, and depression” that caused concern among medical professionals. Further, during her time in the juvenile detention center, J.T.  had a resurgence of mental illness symptoms that seemed to worsen, including hearing voices and inflicting self-harm.

The COA further noted that one medical professional found that residential treatment, as opposed to placement at a Department of Correction facility, would be best suited to offer J.T. “more intensive treatment” at a younger age so that she might benefit from it.

Thus, the court declined to reweigh evidence based on the state’s assertion that sufficient juvenile mental health services were available to J.T. in the adult correctional facility and that she could be placed in a secure residential facility rather than a correctional setting even if waived to criminal court and convicted of murder as an adult.

“Neither the juvenile court nor this Court can predict the future,” Senior Judge John Sharpnack wrote for the unanimous panel. “It is possible that DID-focused treatment in a residential setting, under the juvenile court’s supervision, will not adequately address J.T.’s mental illness.

“It is also possible that after J.T. becomes an adult, the symptoms of her mental illness will resurge, or she will fail to obtain adequate treatment,” Sharpnack continued. “For today, we can only conclude that the juvenile court’s decision is not against the logic and effects of the facts and circumstances, and as a result the court did not abuse its discretion in denying the State’s motion to waive jurisdiction.”

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