http://www.vanderburghsheriff.com/recent-booking-records.aspx
IS IT TRUE JANUARY 17, 2019
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?
IS IT TRUE we are pleased to announce that a new online publication, the City-County Banner, will be launching sometime during February, 2019? …The City-County Banner will service Orange and Dubois counties, specifically focusing on the cities of Jasper, Huntingburg, French Lick, and Paoli? …the City-County Observer will be a media partner with the City-County Banner and both papers will be operating as corridor newspapers? Â …this publishing partnership between the City County Observer and the City-County Banner will provide articles and advertisements published in both papers to readers in cities stretching from Paoli to Evansville? …that the City-County Observer is also working on additional media partners up and down the corridor?
IS IT TRUE a hedge-fund-backed media group known for buying up struggling local papers and cutting costs is planning to make an offer for USA Today publisher Gannett Co., according to people familiar with the matter? …its been reported that MNG Enterprises Inc., one of the largest newspaper chains in the country, has quietly built a 7.5% position in Gannett’s stock and plans to publicly urge the McLean, Va., publisher to put itself up for sale? …we been told that the USA Today publisher Gannett Co.,own the Indy Star, Louisville Journal, Nashville Banner and the Evansville Courier and Press? …hear are a copy of links concerning this issue for your review:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/hedge-fund-backed-media-group-prepares-bid-for-gannett-11547427720
IS IT TRUE here is an article concerning newspaper acquisitions ?
IS IT TRUE yesterday we posted comments concerning a charitable organization named “Funk In The City”? …we have been told that “Funk In The  City” has raised around $200,000 to help the disadvantaged living in the Haynes’s Corner and Center City areas since 2008? …we give five (5) cheers to “Funk In The City” President Ashley Vezzoso Schaefer and her Board of Directors for a job well done?
IS IT TRUE we give five (5) cheers to Holli Sullivan for creating House Bill 1002? Â …this legislation will reallocate funds to proven workforce programs so Hoosiers could increase their certifications, earn stackable credentials and secure high-paying jobs in high-demand fields to meet the changing needs of Indiana employers? … its obvious that State Representative Holli Sullivan understand how to think outside the box?
IS IT TRUE we are hearing that several movers and shakers in the Vanderburgh County Democratic party feel that its time for the At-Large City Council member Jonathan Weaver to publicly announce if he’s going to be a candidate for the Mayor of Evansville? …if Mr. Weaver decides not to run for the Mayor of Evansville we hear that several well qualified people are looking at taking on Mayor Winnecke?
IS IT TRUE that the State of Illinois bet on Video Gaming and lost? …that legalizing video poker and slots was supposed to generate billions of dollars for the State of Illinois but a decade later, that hasn’t happened?  …we are now hearing that Illinois State Legislators want to double down on gambling in that cash poor state? …we hope that the  Kentucky and Indiana State Legislators will take heed when they make amendments to their state gambling laws later on this year?
IS IT TRUE that the White House announced yesterday that President Donald Trump signed a bill providing back pay to federal employees affected by the ongoing partial government shutdown?
IS IT TRUE we can’t wait to read what our most infamous right wing poster Joe Biden will have to say about the above post?
IS IT TRUE to no one surprise Old National Bank CEO Bob Jones will retire after 14 years and current CFO Jim Ryan was named as his successor? Â …we wonder what kind of a “Golden Parachute” will Mr. Jones receive upon his retirement?
IS IT TRUE during the early years, the Veterans Memorial Coliseum was the place where the best entertainment occurred? …this included hosting car shows, the Shrine Circus, and Evansville College used to play its basketball games there?  …once Roberts Stadium was built in the fifties, the Coliseum lost some of its appeal and it closed in 1969?  …the Coliseum was built by the city and was given to Vanderburgh County around this time? …during the waning years of not being in use, the Coliseum deteriorated until the Veterans Council of Vanderburgh County took it over and started to renovated the building?  …we want to thank members of the Veterans Council of Vanderburgh County for saving this historic landmark from the wreaking ball? …we are pleased with the way that Veterans Council of Vanderburgh County Commander Mark Acker and his staff are running this facility on behalf of the taxpayers of this community?  …we would like for anyone that demanded that Commander Acker hand over the keys to the Veterans Memorial Coliseum please go hide under a rock?
Todays“Readers Poll†question is: Do you think that the Republicans will take control of the Evansville City Council in 2019?
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.
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Footnote: City-County Observer Comment Policy. Be kind to people. No personal attacks or harassment will not be tolerated and shall be removed from our site.
Any comments posted in this column do not represent the views or opinions of the City-County Observer or our advertisers.
Gov. Holcomb’s 3rd State of the State Highlights Teacher Pay, Workforce Progress In 2019
Gov. Holcomb’s 3rd State of the State Highlights Teacher Pay, Workforce Progress In 2019
 INDIANAPOLIS – Governor Eric J. Holcomb on Tuesday delivered his 2019 State of the State address to a joint convention of the Indiana General Assembly. While maintaining his focus on five key pillars, the governor’s remarks highlighted his commitment to improving teacher pay and developing a skilled, ready workforce.
Full text of Governor Eric J. Holcomb’s 2019 State of the State address is attached.
“Making the lives of Hoosiers better today while building for the future has been – and will remain – my focus,†Gov. Holcomb said.
As a part of the governor’s effort to make teacher pay competitive with surrounding states, he proposed paying off a pension liability that schools currently pay. This state investment will save all local schools $140 million over the next biennium with continued savings in the years following.
Additionally, Gov. Holcomb announced the creation of the Next Level Teacher Pay Commission – chaired by Hoosier businessman and community leader Michael L. Smith – to identify resources that can be made available to improve teacher compensation and develop a blueprint for implementation read to act on by the 2021 legislative session.
“Once again, Indiana will show the way we solve challenging issues: together,†Gov. Holcomb said.
Gov. Holcomb also celebrated accomplishments and focused on next steps for each of the five pillars outlined in his Next Level Agenda.
Cultivate a strong and diverse economy: Operate within an honestly balanced budget, protect our Triple-A credit rating, and keep 11 percent in reserves.
- Maintain and build the state’s infrastructure: Accelerate I-69 and regional road projects, invest in broadband, and make Indianapolis the Midwest destination for international flights.
- Develop a 21st century skilled and ready workforce: Ensure all Hoosiers have the tools they need to find meaningful work and careers. Expand the Next Level Jobs initiative and help more high school students earn postsecondary credentials before they graduate.
- Strengthen public health and attack the drug epidemic: Adopt recommendations from 2018 school safety report, implement Child Welfare Policy and Practice Group’s recommendations, and improve access to quality treatment, expand recovery housing and provide better services for pregnant women who are substance dependent.
- Deliver great government service: Modernize state government to better serve citizens and businesses, which includes passing bias crimes legislation.
Each year, Indiana’s governor addresses both houses of the state legislature, the state’s Supreme Court Justices, and other state leaders at the beginning of the legislative session in the State of the State Address. It provides an opportunity for the governor to report on the status quo of the state’s affairs, highlight key accomplishments of the past year, and outline key priorities for the year ahead.
OLD NATIONAL BANK PROVIDING HELP DURING THE SHUTDOWN
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PHOTOS OF SOLDIERS COMING BACK HOME AFTER WW II
 PHOTOS OF SOLDIERS Coming BACK HOME AFTER WW II
submitted to the CCO by Ron Riecken
 Soldiers returning home on the USS General Harry Taylor  in August 1945
When Germany fell in May 1945, the U.S. Navy was still busy fighting in the
Pacific and couldn’t assist.
The job of transporting 3 million men  home fell to the Army and the Merchant Marine.
300 Victory and Liberty cargo ships were converted to troop transports for the task.
During the  war, 148,000 troops crossed the Atlantic west to east each month;
the rush home ramped this up to 435,000 a month over 14 months.
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 Hammocks crammed into available spaces aboard the USS Intrepid
In October 1945, with the war in Asia also over, the Navy started chipping in,
converting all available vessels to transport duty.
On smaller ships like destroyers, capable of carrying perhaps 300 men,
soldiers were told to hang their hammocks in whatever nook and cranny they could  find.
Carriers were particularly useful, as their large open hangar decks could house 3,000
or more troops in relative comfort, with bunks,  sometimes in stacks of five welded
or bolted in place.
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 Bunks aboard the Army transport SS Pennant
The Navy wasn’t picky, though: cruisers, battleships, hospital ships,
even LSTs (Landing Ship, Tank) were packed full of men yearning for  home.
Two British ocean liners under American control, the  RMS Queen Mary  and  Queen Elizabeth ,
had already served as troop transports before and continued to do so during the operation, each capable of carrying up to 15,000 people at a time, though their normal, peacetime capacity  was less than 2,200.
Twenty-nine ships were dedicated to transporting war brides:
women married to American soldiers during the war.
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 Troops performing a lifeboat drill onboard the Queen Mary  in December 1944,
before Operation Magic Carpet
The Japanese surrender in August 1945 came none too soon,
but it put an extra burden on Operation Magic Carpet .
The war in Asia had been expected to go well into 1946 and the Navy and
the War Shipping Administration were hard-pressed to bring home all
the soldiers who now had to  get home earlier than anticipated.
The transports carrying them also had to collect numerous POWs
from recently liberated Japanese camps, many  of whom suffered from malnutrition and illness.
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 U.S. soldiers recently liberated from Japanese POW camps
The time to get home depended a lot on the circumstances.  USS Lake Champlain, a brand new  Essex- class carrier that arrived too late for the war,
could cross the Atlantic and take 3,300 troops home a little under 4 days and 8 hours.
Meanwhile, troops going home from Australia or India  would sometimes spend months on slower vessels.
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                Hangar of the USS Wasp  during the operation
There was enormous pressure on the operation to bring home as many men
as possible by Christmas 1945.
Therefore, a sub-operation,  Operation Santa Claus , was dedicated to the purpose.
Due to storms at sea and an overabundance of soldiers eligible for return home, however, Santa Claus could only return a fraction in time and still not quite home but at least to American soil.
The nation’s transportation network was  overloaded:  trains heading west from the East Coast were on average 6 hours behind schedule and trains heading east from the West Coast were  twice that late.
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 The crowded flight deck of the USS Saratoga .
The USS Saratoga transported home a total of 29,204 servicemen during Operation Magic Carpet , more than any other ship.
Many freshly discharged men found themselves stuck in separation centers
but faced an outpouring of love and friendliness from the locals.
Many townsfolk took in freshly arrived troops and invited them to Christmas dinner in their homes.
Still others gave their train tickets to soldiers  and still others organized quick parties at local train stations for men on layover.
A Los Angeles taxi driver took six soldiers all the way to Chicago;
another took another carload of men to Manhattan, the Bronx, Pittsburgh,
Long Island, Buffalo and New Hampshire.
Neither of the drivers  accepted a fare beyond the cost of gas.
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 Overjoyed troops returning home on the battleship USS Texas
All in all, though, the Christmas deadline proved untenable.
The last 29 troop transports, carrying some 200,000 men from the
China-India-Burma theater, arrived to America in April 1946, bringing  Operation Magic Carpet  to an end, though an additional 127,000 soldiers still took until September to return home and finally lay down the burden of war.
You can learn more about the logistical challenges of World War II on our
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Indiana Wildlife Refuge Affected by Government Shutdown
Indiana Wildlife Refuge Affected by Government Shutdown
JANUARY 17TH, 2019 
TYRONE MORRIS INDIANA
There are more than 550 wildlife refuges in the United States and all are affected by the partial government shutdown. There are three in Indiana and workers can’t complete their duties to upkeep the facilities.
Right now, people can still access the grounds but all management offices are closed since the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is not able to staff its properties.
Volunteers from the area are now stepping in to help check on restrooms and other facilities on the property to make sure no one is damaging the park.
Manager Heath Hamilton says, “Tree planting, restoring native prairie habitat, restoring wetlands, paying our contractors to do those types of things are all on hold.â€
The property is more than 10,000 acres and trail and parking lot maintenance is not able to be completed. Even volunteers can’t continue their duties.
“We rely on volunteers and interns to make our operation go here at the refuge, and as of right now, the volunteers can’t come in and do their work and the interns can’t come in and do their work so they’re on hold,†says Hamilton.
The hold is stopping habitat restoration, posting boundary signs, and biological programs. Those who hunt, fish and hike at the refuge must adventure through on their own.
“People are out there at their own risk right now with maybe not all the information that they might need to safely navigate the properties,†says Hamilton.
St. Vincent Evansville Birth Announcements For January
Casey and Joe Hillenbrand, Evansville, daughter, Pluma Elyce, January 3
Samantha and Jason Fuchs, Elberfeld, IN, daughter, Claire Jade, January 4
Abigail Klausmeier and Travis Parker, Evansville, son, Jayce Greyson, January 5
Shannon Jones and Evan Meyers, Evansville, son, Chandler Joseph, January 7
Meggie and Bryce Newton, Evansville, son, Colson Nicholas, January 8
Mariah Whitehouse and James Bilderback, Princeton, IN, daughter, Jovonna Ray-Lynn, January 8
HOT JOBS IN EVANSVILLE
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Winter Jam 2019 Tour 360 January 17th at the Ford Center
 Revealing a history making tour first, Winter Jam will be presented
on a 360º “in the round†center stage, showcasing a diverse lineup
helmed by supergroup Newsboys United.
ONLY $15 donation at the door! No tickets required.