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“IS IT TRUE” APRIL 23, 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 the next several days we will be reminiscing about the things that the City-County Observer wrote about over the years?  …we will start out with the first story that was exposed where Joe Wallace was approached by the City-County Observer Publisher to fess up to something that had happened at GAGE under his watch?…the “SNEGAL” (Sneaky But Legal) action we refer to as the contract between GAGE and former Director of the Evansville Department of Metropolitan Development Tom Barnett to supplement his income?

IS IT TRUE back in those days the City of Evansville was limited in what department heads could earn and the limit was not sufficient to attract Mr. Barnett away from Paducah, Kentucky a town that is smaller than Henderson?…Mr. Barnett actually had an offer in hand from a town of 2,000 people in Florida that was over 30% higher than what the maximum pay could be in Evansville? …former Mayor Weinzapfel hatched an idea to pay Mr. Barnett the maximum the City allowed and to supplement that with a $41,000 contract between GAGE and Barnett even though he wasn’t an employee of GAGE? …Weinzapfel himself signed the contractual agreement with Mr. Barnett as he was the Chairman of the GAGE Board of Directors at the time? …Mr. Wallace declined to sign the contract because Mr. Barnett wasn’t an employee of GAGE?…later on Joe Wallace indeed fessed up to what his Chairman had done and wrote an article for the CCO that became the first of many? …much to our surprise was that the area mainstream media picked up on this story?

IS IT TRUE another situation that arose with the old Executive Inn was covered by the CCO with Joe Wallace’s help and the article was called “The Executive Inn Dilemma”?…the dilemma came up when some people were considering using the old steel framework for a new downtown hotel?…it was discovered by a structural engineering team that the building’s frame was not strong enough to use double pane windows and was thus useless for anything but scrap metal?…about that time there was an earthquake in Haiti and our old friend John Kish–who was the project manager for the Ford Center arena project–justified tearing down the Executive Inn by pointing out the damages from the Haiti earthquake as Evansville’s fate if the Executive Inn was allowed to stand?…what was amazing was that our elected officials and members of the local mainstream media believed Mr. Kish’s earthquake analogy and thus the old Executive Inn was dismantled for scrap?

IS IT TRUE that we also reported the comical error about a multidirectional bridge to nowhere spanning MLK Blvd.? …that bridge eventually added $3 million to the cost of the Ford Center project?…many people were mystified about how anyone with good sense could have overlooked the need for a walk bridge between the Ford Center and Old National Events Plaza?  …at that point “Ready, Fire, Aim” was created by the CCO and later that phrase was used by Mayoral candidate Rick Davis in an attempt to remove the Democrat Cabal from power?

IS IT TRUE that the Vanderburgh Democrat Party has had a difficult time recovering from the debacles of the election of 2011 including Floatgate, TurnCoatGate, failing to pay the rent on the headquarters, and stiffing the Bauer Haus for a big chicken dinner for the party faithful?

IS IT TRUE that several years ago the Evansville Convention and Visitor’s Bureau was outed by the CCO for spending an excessive amount of our tax dollars on a Christmas Dinner at Biaggi’s where 5 bottles of Opus One wine were consumed along with many double shots of top-shelf liquor?…the CCO had the receipts from the party where well over several hundred dollars per person was squandered on a fun evening and published it?…the dinner receipt came to the CCO from a mainstream media source whose boss seemingly felt that this event wasn’t newsworthy?  …that our mainstream media source thought it was newsworthy and gift wrapped the story for the CCO to publish? …the mainstream media also printed this story that caused the total revamping of the management structure of the Evansville CVB?

IS IT TRUE we wish that our locally elected officials, business leaders of this region, patriots and Veterans groups would feel similar about the Veterans Memorial Coliseum as they do the LST?  …its time that the citizens of this community demand that the Veterans Memorial Coliseum receive the same media attention and financial support as the LST does? …its time that the community brings back the “Veterans Memorial Colosseum”  to its original grandeur?

IS IT TRUE that the Evansville city employees hospitalization fund has been insufficiently funded over several years? …the city’s hospitalization fund, from which city employee medical claims are paid, has had a negative balance of several millions of dollars over the last several years?  …we are now hearing that the city’s hospitalization fund will not be an issue in the proposed 2020 City budget? …all we can say is “very interesting?”

IS IT TRUE that the EPA has allowed the City of Evansville to pussyfoot around with the lead contamination issue in the Jacobsville area for over 20 years? …the real tragedy is that lead poisoning can be treated, but any damage caused by contaminated lead cannot be reversed? …we hope that before the City builds the new $28 million dollar Aqua Center at Garvin Park they will do extensive testing of possible lead contamination and toxic cleaning chemicals issues in the Garvin Park?

IS IT TRUE during the next several days there will be a few more of these posts about looking back on the accomplishments of this column as we decide what to do about the future of “IS IT TRUE”?…we would appreciate any feedback, encouragement, or recommendations that any of our readers will offer?

IS IT TRUE we encourage you to encourage your family members, friends, and business associates to read the City-County Observer?  …make sure you tell them that the CCO is complimentary and other online publications charge? …If you would like to advertise on the CCO please contact us at City-County Observer@live.com

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.

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

 

Gaming Bill Will Allow Mobile Sports Betting, Private Casino Meetings With Governors

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Gaming Bill Will Allow Mobile Sports Betting, Private Casino Meetings With Governors

April 22, 2019  

By Emily Ketterer
TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS —Hoosiers may soon be able to place sports bets anywhere in the state, but they won’t know if casino bosses are meeting privately with public officials.

Previously filed as Senate Bill 552, the gaming expansion legislation was moved to House Bill 1015. These changes had to be made because all revenue-generating bills have to come through the House. The gaming expansion is expected to bring around $75 million into the state.

Although the language was moved to another bill, the concept is still the same. The legislation would allow two Gary casinos to merge and move inland and give Terre Haute a license to build a new casino––adding to Indiana’s 11 casinos and two racinos. The bill would also legalize sports betting, which passed through both chambers with little to no debate from lawmakers or the public.

But changes were still made, including removing the provision to prevent casino owners from meeting in private with the governor. That language had been amended into the bill on the House floor by Rep. Pat Bauer, D-South Bend, in reaction to The Indianapolis Star story about Gov. Eric Holcomb taking a paid-for private plane ride last year with the owner of Spectacle Entertainment, the company operating the two Gary casinos.

“Apparently they want to keep everything secret,” Bauer said. “It amazes me they’re going about recklessly on this thing.”

A few other changes were made, including adding mobile sports betting on computers or phones back into the bill. The provision was in the Senate version but was removed by Rep. Ben Smaltz, R-Auburn, when the bill went to the House Public Policy Committee. Smaltz argued that allowing mobile sports betting could lead to every community having gambling. And he questioned how lawmakers could explain why people can bet digitally on sports, but not legally play other casino games like black-jack.

Betting on e-sports or youth sports would be illegal, and all sports bets would still have a 9.5 percent tax levy as stated in the original language.

This new version of the bill will likely be the final version, said Sen. Mark Messmer, R-Jasper, who introduced the new language of the bill in conference committee.

“I think we’re 99 percent there,” Messmer said.

Other changes include allowing the two racinos, in Anderson and Shelbyville, to have live dealers in 2020, rather than 2021 as current law states, and reducing the fee to move the Gary casinos from $50 million to $20 million, paid over five years. Spectacle Entertainment would also be required to give up their second license if Terre Haute builds the casino. However, a change made to the bill would now give Spectacle a $40 million tax credit for forfeiting the second license, even if the company ends up buying the Terre Haute location.

“That sacrifice of that license in Gary is regardless of who is operating the Terre Haute location,” Messmer said.

Spectacle would have to give up the second license anyway if the two Gary casinos merge inland, even if Terre Haute decides not to build a casino.

Additionally, the Vigo County board created to select the new owner of the Terre Haute casino was removed, and the Indiana Gaming Commission would be responsible for choosing the best candidate, with input from Vigo County. The competitive betting process to operate the new casino was also removed, and an interested operator would have to submit a proposal to the gaming commission with a $2 million fee for the license.

To open the new casino, the county must pass a referendum in either this fall’s elections or the 2020 primary election to approve the building.

The bill still needs to be approved by the House and Senate, likely by or before Wednesday.

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

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City Council Approves Funds for LST Visiting Center

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City Council Approves Funds for LST Visiting Center

APRIL 22ND, 2019 PAUL WILCOXEN EVANSVILLE, INDIANA

During its regularly scheduled meeting Monday night, the Evansville City Council approved the transfer of $1.3 million dollars to be used to build the LST Visitors Center along the Evansville Riverfront.

It was the second reading on the transfer before the vote of 9-0 was approved.

The total budget for the LST relocation project sits at $3.6 million. Work has started on the mooring barge that will be used to dredge the area.

Once the river heads into a safe level, work will be on the dredging. More than half the money will be spent on the LST Visitors Center.

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FEATHERED FRIENDS!

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FEATHERED FRIENDS! PART I

by Dan Burton, Publisher of The New Harmony Gazette 

They call them our Feathered Friends, those sleek little, fluffy flyers we see perched on our window sills, bird feeders and park benches. Happily chirping and frolicking through the sky. But the story I’m about to tell you puts that relationship and that phrase, our Feathered Friends, in a whole different light!

It was a Tuesday morning, the way I recall it, and the sun had finally broken through the overcast and rain of the past few days. Ol’ Sol was playing havoc with the clouds which had encased it’s brilliance most of the prior week. Yep! The day broke bright and cheery that Tuesday morning.

In celebration of Spring’s triumph over Winter, I decided to leave the back door to the Gazette office, at 505 Main Street, open to Mother Nature’s fresh breezes.

I went upstairs to my desk and began the task of writing the monthly political sermon. Little did I know, but Mother Nature had an adventure and a lesson in store for me. My mind was heavily focused on what to put on that blank piece of steno paper that was staring up at me from the note-pad. When “What was that?” I exclaimed to myself. “Birds?” That chirping sounded mighty distinct! “Was I suddenly getting my hearing back?” I wondered. “Will miracles never cease?” I thought. That music sounded to close to be coming from outside my window pane. Then I heard a flutter of wings rushing behind me in the air. At that point, I decided I’d better put down the pen and see what was afoot…er… or a-wing, in this case. What was going on inside my castle?

At first when I saw them cavorting under the twenty-foot ceilings. I thought two Bluebirds had inadvertently found their way into my domain. “How cute!” I observed. Two little one-ounce- wonders, having a time, dancing on the hanging lampshades and landing gently on the motionless ceiling fans. Whoosh! They’d chase each other up to the mezzanine, land on the sill of the small west-facing window, and were probably wondering where the heck they had ended up in the rapid aerial journey of their mating frenzy.

Now I was able to get a closer look at them, Birdie Beau and Birdie Belle. They were not Bluebirds as I had first thought, but Finches. I could tell now by their off-purple or reddish coloring. They didn’t seem to be paying any attention to me at all, but they were doing a good job of eliminating any hope of my concentrating on writing an article for the New-Harmony Gazette on that particular day.

“Well!” I said to myself. “This has got to end or I won’t get any work done and will miss my deadline!” So I decided to open the large, fifteen foot high, front door to the building and then

they’d soon be on their way. After all, that’s what they were desiring, to get on with their skyward romance and leave this dank old building behind. But no! They kept flying against the north and east windows to no avail. Sometimes fluttering up and down the panes and sometimes pecking at them as they moved up and down. The male, the Beau, was especially aggressive. He would fly with force into these encasing walls of glass. “Go through the door!” I yelled. Fly toward the bright light and the morning breeze!” Suddenly Beau decided that he’d challenge the glass wall. END PART I

Otters To Host April Traveling City Hall Meeting

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Otters To Host April Traveling City Hall Meeting

The Evansville Otters will be hosting the April Traveling City Hall meeting on Wednesday, April 24 at Bosse Field from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

Meet some members of the Evansville Otters baseball team and the coaching staff at the meeting. The Traveling City Hall meeting will be the day before the Otters’ begin spring training.

2019 is the 25th anniversary season for the Otters. Mayor Winnecke encourages everyone to come out to historic Bosse Field to meet the players, new members of the club’s front office staff and learn about two Education Days to be hosted by the Otters on May 1 and 8.

Mayor Lloyd Winnecke will open the meeting and introduce city department heads, followed by a presentation by the Otters.

Small group guided tours of the Bosse Field will be available after the formal remarks, and the public will have an opportunity to talk one-on-one with Mayor Winnecke and city department heads about any issue involving local government.

“LEFT JAB AND RIGHT JAB” APRIL 23, 2019

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“LEFT JAB AND RIGHT JAB”

“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 Forum” columns concerning National or International issues.
Joe Biden and Ronald Reagan comments are mostly about issues of National interest.  The majority 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 now have exclusively to discuss national or world issues that they feel passionate about.
We shall be posting the “LEFT JAB” AND “RIGHT JAB” several times a week.  Oh, “Left Jab” is a liberal view and the “Right Jab is representative of the more conservative views. Also, any reader who would like to react to the written comments of the two gentlemen is free to do so.

This Week at USI

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3 p.m. Tuesday, April 23

Alumni in Residence: Life in the Foreign Service

In cooperation with the University of Southern Indiana Alumni Association, the USI Romain College of Business and the College of Liberal Arts welcome two USI alumni back to campus as a part of the USI Alumni in Residence program. Antone (Tony) Greubel ’92 and Izumi Mochizuki Greubel ’94 will present “Life in the Foreign Service” at 3 p.m. Tuesday, April 23. The event will be held in Kleymeyer Hall, located in the lower level of the Liberal Arts Center. A reception in the McCutchan Art Center and Pace Galleries will take place directly following the presentation. These events are free and open to the public.

 

Wednesday, April 24 – Tuesday, April 30

Spring 2019 study day and finals

No classes will be held on Wednesday, April 24 in order for students to prepare for final exams. Final exams begin Thursday, April 25 and run through Tuesday, April 30. Students can find their finals schedule on the USI website at USI.edu/registrar.

 

3 p.m. Friday, April 26

USI Board of Trustees to meet

The University of Southern Indiana Board of Trustees will meet in regular session at 3 p.m. Friday, April 26 in University Center East rooms 2217-2220. Documents for the meeting will be available at USI.edu/trustees once they are published.

 

Friday, April 26 and Saturday, April 27

USI to hold spring 2019 Commencement ceremonies inside new Screaming Eagles Arena

The University of Southern Indiana will hold five Spring Commencement ceremonies over two days, Friday, April 26 and Saturday, April 27 inside the Screaming Eagles Arena on the USI campus. The Graduate Ceremony for master and doctoral degree candidates from all of USI’s colleges will be held at 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 26. On Saturday, April 27, the undergraduate ceremony for the College of Liberal Arts will begin at 9 a.m.; the Romain College of Business at noon; the College of Nursing and Health Professions at 3 p.m., and the Pott College of Science, Engineering, and Education at 6 p.m. Guests are not required to have tickets for the Spring 2019 Commencement ceremonies but graduates must make a reservation to participate in the ceremony. Read More

 

2 p.m. Sunday, April 28

USI Chamber Choir to perform Fauré’s Requiem, other works at spring concert

The University of Southern Indiana Chamber Choir and Women’s Choir will present their spring concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 28 at Old North United Methodist Church, located at 4201 Stringtown Road in Evansville, Indiana. Included in the concert will be a performance of Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem, a seven-movement piece for choir and instrumentalists based on the Catholic Mass for the Dead. The USI Chamber Choir will collaborate with other collegiate choirs in a performance of Fauré’s Requiem in May at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York City. Read More

 

 

 

STUDENT EVENTS

A collection of events on campus and in the community sponsored by USI student organizations

can be found on the USI events calendar by clicking here.

UE to Announce Enhancements to High School Changemaker Challenge

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The University of Evansville will hold a press conference at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 23 to announce enhancements to the annual High School Changemaker Challenge including increased scholarships and opportunities for wider participation. The press conference will be held on the UE campus inside the Bernhardt Atrium within the Schroeder School of Business.

UE President Christopher M. Pietruszkiewicz and Dr. Shane Davidson, vice president for enrollment and marketing, will recap previous project successes, discuss project statuses, and provide full details for this year’s competition.

UE’s High School Changemaker Challenge is designed to motivate young people to take a leading role in identifying and solving challenges in the world around them through innovation and creativity.

The Bernhardt Atrium is located just inside the southern-most doors of the Schroeder School of Business building which face the oval drive off of Lincoln Avenue on the UE campus. Media may park in any available spot on the oval or in Lot A at the corner of Lincoln and Rotherwood Avenues. Click here to view a campus map.

CVB Meeting

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Early College/Ivy Tech Lecture on Global Warming Set for Tuesday

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This month’s Early College@Ivy Tech Lecture Series will feature a presentation by Jon Schrage, Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation’s Early College High School math and science teacher. The lecture, “Climate Change: What We Know and How We Know It” will be Tuesday, April 23, at 5:15 p.m. in Vectren Auditorium. It is free and open to the public.

Schrage, who holds a Ph.D. in atmospheric science, said to have a constructive conversation about any controversial topic, all parties need to have a shared set of facts.

“In the context of climate change, a lack of shared facts has historically made meaningful debate difficult. The problem is further compounded by the fact that the methods of modern climatology are highly advanced and technical,” Schrage said, and “members of the public erroneously form opinions about “climate” based on personal experiences of ‘weather.”

In this presentation one day after the official celebration of Earth Day takes place, the nature of our modern state of understanding of climate and climate change will be examined, as well as some of the techniques used to predict future climate trends under different public policy scenarios.

Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation’s Early College High School is located at Ivy Tech Community College, and its students attend Ivy Tech classes, along with regular high school coursework – many completing an Associate Degree while still in high school, or their General Education Core — 30 credits transferrable to any college in Indiana.

To learn more about Early College High School, go to https://earlycollege.evscschools.com/. To learn more about Ivy Tech and its transfer programs, go to www.ivytech.edu/transfer.

 

 

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