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IS IT TRUE SEPTEMBER 7, 2018

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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 we predict that the Mayor will stack the City Council Chambers this coming Monday evening with supporters of the proposed $28 million dollars Aquatic Center at Garvin Park?  …when the Mayor makes his public pitch to City Council to build the Aqua Center we hope they will ask him to give them a detailed breakdown on how much of our tax dollars has he spent on projects since he been in office?  …we hear that total the projects costs he presents to City Council will be mind-boggling?

IS IT TRUE on Monday we predicted that Garvin Park across from the entrance of Bosse Field will be the proposed site for the new $28 million dollars Aquatic Center? …its now being reported by other media outlets that the new Garvin Park Aquatic Center will accommodate the needs of competitive swimmers of as well as recreational swimmer?. …the proposed Garvin Park Aquatic Center will also have designated areas for diving, competitive swimming, as well as swimming lessons if the Evansville City Council approves this $28 million dollars project?

IS IT TRUE we still stand by our prediction that once the $28 million Aquatic Center is finished that the Mayor will sign a contract with the local YMCA to manage the new Aquatic Center?  …that the local downtown YMCA is currently building a new state-of-the facility next to their current location?  …since the city is going to sign a long-term contract with YMCA to manage the new Aquatic Center we wonder why the Mayor didn’t suggest to the YMCA Board of Directors that they make the new Aquatic Center part of the new downtown YMCA facility? … it’s obvious that the blending of the new YMCA facility and the proposed Garvin Park Aquatic Center into an adjoining facility would not only save a bunch of money but also would be the crowning jewel for development of downtown?

IS IT TRUE  Mayor Winnecke told the Courier and Press that “he’s really disappointed by the decision to reduce the security force at the Evansville Regional Airport?” …Winnecke also told the Courier and Press that “I’ve expressed that opinion to Mr. Joest multiple times over the last 12 months?”  …the Mayor makes 3 out of 5 appointments to the Evansville Regional Airport Authority?  …it’s common knowledge that the Mayor has a major influence on the decisions on board that he makes the majority appointments to?  …many of our readers feel that its time that the Mayor puts political pressure on the current Airport board members by asking them to enhance public safety at the Evansville Regional Airport Authority Board?

IS IT TRUE  several years ago we remember when the “Jacobsville Join In” office was officially opened on North Main Street?  …that a large group of people observed the Mayor, officials from Echo Housing and the Evansville DMD officially cutting the ribbon to opening the office?  …at the official opening, the dignitaries in attendance told us how “Jacobsville Join In” is going to make major positive changes in the North Main Street corridor? …recently without fanfare “Jacobsville Join In” group abruptly vacated their office located on North Main Street?  …that “Jacobsville Join In” was sponsored by ECHO Housing and allegedly received their operating funds from the Evansville DMD?  …we hope the reason for the abrupt closing of “Jacobsville Join In” office on North Main Street didn’t have anything to do with the current “Forensic Audit” being conducted at ECHO Housing Corporation?

IS IT TRUE that after all said and done last week Evansville showed that it could put on a controversial event without looking like fools?… Ford Center set a record for attendance at any event ever held or ever will be held with approximately 11,500 people jammed inside to show support for President Donald Trump?…the Evansville Police Department estimated that an additional 2,000 were outside wanting to get in but were denied entry due to the limited capacity of the venue to safely hold more than 11,500 people?…the recording capacity at Roberts Stadium was just over 14,000 that drove from miles around for a KISS concert in the mid 1970s when the Gotham rockers were the rage of the teenage nation and the kings of the nighttime world?…we do wonder if President Trump could have broken the record that KISS set if the capacity to hold more people was in place?

IS IT TRUE there were resistance members who held a rally far over by The Centre whose numbers have been estimated around a 1,000 people? …except for three solitary incidents both crowds were well behaved toward one another and that is a reason for all of the Tri-State to be proud?…one of those three instances was a disturbed person who shook a knife and a middle finger at a helicopter that was circling the Ford Center for some undisclosed official purpose?… Evansville showed better behavior that big American cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York when President Trump showed up?…in these other cities violence and destruction of property are commonplace when President Trump comes to town and that says very bad things about the people and cities where such things occur unopposed?

IS IT TRUE that the real head-scratcher of the day was the fact that Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke seemly invented a reason to be out of town for a presidential visit that makes most Mayors gleeful with civic pride? …what really puzzled us is why didn’t the Mayor allow Deputy Mayor Steve Schaefer to publicly welcomed the President to Evansville? …we hear that President Trump was cordial about the fact that no one from the Winnecke Administration was available to welcome him to Evansville since he held off on making up names for the cast of characters who normally would have been at the front of the receiving line?

IS IT TRUE we were told that Steve Hammer give some of his 70 VIP tickets to the “Trump and Braun” political rally at the Ford Center to the some of the following well known local Republicans? …they were; Steve Schaefer, Richard Martin, Hobart Scales, Nicholas Hermann, Michael Duckworth, Christine Keck, Gary Schutte, Jr., Alfonso Vidal, David Clark, Marsha Abell Barnhart, Aulden Nance, Brenda Goff, Jeff Knight,  Michelle and Frank Peterlin, Chad Howard,  Dottie Thomas, Aaron Wilson, and Danny Koester to name a few?  …we were told that they really enjoyed themselves?

Todays“Readers Poll” question is: Do you feel that the new owners of Ellis Park are going to invest the money to make the track and casino more upscale and customer friendly?

Please take time and read our articles entitled “STATEHOUSE Files, Channel 44 News, LAW ENFORCEMENT, READERS POLL, BIRTHDAYS, Hot Jobs” and “LOCAL SPORTS”.  You now are able to subscribe to get the CCO daily.

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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.

We understand that sometimes people don’t always agree and discussions may become a little heated.  The use of offensive language, insults against commenters will not be tolerated and will be removed from our site.

 

Economic Development Is About our Youth

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Economic Development Is About our Youth
This past weekend we honored our workers, men, and women who spend the majority of their time working to earn a better living for their families. Labor Day, the first Monday in September, became a Federal Holiday in 1894. Thanks to the Labor Day Association for another weekend of celebration.
Workplaces have changed over the years and the skills to earn a living wage have also changed. I don’t deny education has always been important, but years ago there wasn’t a great incentive to finish high school to get a good job, that is until WWII.
High school graduation rates climbed over 50% after WWII. And last year, our young people proved they have the “can do ” spirit, and the national high school graduation rate increased to over 80%.
Our country seems to be going in the right direction. Yet….
Education and workforce “talent” development experts are saying a high school diploma alone is just not good enough, that a student in high school should have concentrated studies in a career path.
Lumina Foundation, the recognized education readiness think tank in Indiana, has offered this clarification. By 2025, employers in Indiana will need to fill one million high-demand, high-wage jobs and about 60% of those will require some post-secondary degree, certificate or certification.
Lumina Foundation has set a goal- 60% of high school graduates with a degree or certificate by 2025.
Governor Holcomb, educators around the State and industry leaders are joining in. They aren’t just being attentive, they are enthusiastic about their involvement.
As one educator with whom I spoke corrected me, “60% should be the low standard”, he said.  ”We aren’t doing enough. Our students must be on a sure pathway either for employment after high school, having graduated with a recognized certification, or on to college with an earned Associate Degree – that is, every graduating youth, not just a percentage.”
Evansville Campus Ivy Tech Chancellor Jonathan Weinzapfel announced in a recent speech that our local Ivy Tech is ahead,  that their goal for Associate Degrees and certifications has exceeded expectations- their goal for 2017-2018, 1,009; the actual number at 1,726.
And, the legislature has taken action. This past legislative session, HEA 1398 helped further the concept of “talent” development by allowing more flexibility. The new law allows schools to substitute courses in a graduation pathway if that course is of equivalent or higher rigor. It allows schools to replace the ISTEP with the certification test of the career the student will be entering.
One of the HEA 1398 presenters talked of the Lumina goal benefits to the students. “Having an Associate Degree in high school saves the family money- two years of college expenses.”
This educator had 32 students receive Associate Degrees this past year. Considering the lower end cost of a year in college at least $20,000, this is savings to those 32 families of $1.2 million.
The presenter/educator went on. “That is money spent in our community and not the college town. And, the student who graduated with an Associate Degree is further rewarded. He is guaranteed entrance into a state college as he is considered a transfer student.” (He explained colleges because they get higher fees from students outside Indiana, might prefer that student over a student from Indiana.)
This educator later commented to me, “If a student wants to go the vocational route, there are rewards there, too. Consider the story of a recent high school grad.  He was welding at his workplace when his employer noticed the internationally recognized welding certification he earned in our high school. His employer added an annual $30,000 to his paycheck.”
The Lumina Foundation considers this focused direction a “new learning system”, one that is targeted, that stresses results-oriented education.
This “new learning system” will, as Lumina promotes on it’s website, “encourage colleges, universities, and other education providers to affordably meet the needs of today’s students by counting more leaning toward a wider array of post-high school credentials, including degrees, certificates, and certifications”.
It is a learning system that is comprehensive, like in one school corporation where soft skills are taught early in the 8th grade and those students tour job sites;  or an Ivy Tech that teaches women in prison toward certifications; or our own Ivy Tech partnering with EVSC to prepare young people for highly desired careers in manufacturing, a program called Skill Up.
There should be roles for partnerships with every post-graduate educational institution locally, including the new IU Medical Center.
Our leaders are focused. But, I am reminded this new direction must be everyone’s challenge. It will be up to the educators on every level to increase their work in partnerships; Industry will have to continue to train its workers now on the job and  provide paid internships to prospective new workers; and, everyone in the new learning system will need to think of innovative ways to help pay the cost of Associate Degrees and certifications in high school.
There is definitely a race on among the states and within our State to get our youth prepared. Make no mistake. Whoever meets the demands of a workforce ready to go to work with certifications or  Associate Degree will be a winner.
If we stay focused on the “new learning system”, not only will we be helping our children and their future opportunities in life but our community, our region, and our State?

 

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Evansville City Council to Discuss City Officials Salaries

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Evansville City Council to Discuss City Officials Salaries

SEPTEMBER 6TH, 2018 MITCH ANGLE EVANSVILLE

Evansville City Council will be meeting next Monday to consider the First Reading of an ordinance to fix salaries for city heads.

The salaries for every appointed officer, employee, deputy, assistant, departmental and institutional head of the city of Evansville and Evansville-Vanderburgh County Levee Authority for 2019 will be discussed.

The ordinance states that the Evansville Mayor salary will remain the same from 2018.

Along with the Mayor’s salary, the board members of the Police Merit and Fire Merit will be paid the same amount as last year. Every other city office employee will see a 2% increase from 2018.

Other city office officials salaries over 100K for 2019 include Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Computer Services Local Income Tax, Director of Utility for Water Administration, Deputy Director Engineering Services for Water Planning, Police Chief.

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Historic Neighborhood May Gain National Attention

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Historic Neighborhood May Gain National Attention

SEPTEMBER 4TH, 2018 JOYLYN BUKOVAC EVANSVILLE, INDIANA

A neighborhood in Evansville may be getting some national attention. A grant proposal is being prepared in hopes of getting the Hebron Meadows development nominated to the Nation Register of Historic Places.

Hebron Meadows is a historic neighborhood, built in 1948 through the 1950s. The Director of Metropolitan Development, Kelley Coures says this neighborhood is an example of midcentury modern architecture and the majority of the homes were built by someone who was ahead of their time. “One of the architects in this neighborhood was a woman. She designed about, maybe 250 of them, maybe, 380 homes that were built in Hebron Meadows,” says Coures.

This neighborhood also gave those with limited rights in the 1950s options.

“This was one of the areas where upper-middle-class Jewish families lived, and in cities like Evansville, many times in other neighborhoods built earlier, there were deed restrictions actually about race and about religion. African Americans and Jews were prevented from building or buying homes in some more exclusive neighborhoods, but there were no such restrictions in Hebron Meadows,” says Coures.

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IDEM Seeks Input On How To Reduce Diesel Emissions

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Staff Report
TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS—The Indiana Department of Environmental Management is seeking public comments on its report of how to use nearly $41 million in the state’s share of the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust Fund.

The public has until Sept. 28 to comment on the plan, which is aimed at projects that will reduce the amount of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from diesel-powered vehicles.

The trust fund was set up after Volkswagen was found to have installed equipment in its Diesel-powered vehicles that overrode the emissions control equipment. A $2.7 billion trust fund is to be used to remove the same amount of NOx that the Volkswagen vehicles put into the air in the United States over an eight-year period.

IDEM has developed a plan to use the money to outfit on-road vehicles like trucks and buses and offroad devices such as forklifts and airport ground transportation equipment to reduce pollution.

Gov. Eric Holcomb formed Indiana’s mitigation trust committee last fall to develop a plan for how to use the money. State officials are still seeking innovative projects that will have a lasting impact on Indiana’s air quality, infrastructure, and economy.

Send comments to VWTrust@idem.IN.gov. For more information about the Indiana Volkswagen Mitigation Trust Program, please visit www.idem.IN.gov/vwtrust.

Footnote: TheStatehouseFile.com is a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

Obituary for John Robert Gerard

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Obituary for John Robert Gerard

John Robert Gerard, 64, of Evansville, passed away Tuesday, September 4, 2018, at his residence. He was born in Evansville, June 8, 1954, to the late Clarence and Dorothy Gerard.
John graduated from Rex Mundie High School in 1971 and received his business degree from Wabash College. He joined the family business “Country School Restaurant” with his brother, Steve, which they owned and operated until 1987. John then went to work for the City and County in the Clerk’s office as well as the Assessor’s office.
John is a member of All Saints Parish where he sang in the choir. He loved to travel, especially historical sights and Amish Country. John also enjoyed attending the Philharmonic and Civic Theater.
John is survived by his brother, Stephen (Catherine) Gerard; nieces and nephews, Mathew (Kelly) Gerard, William Gerard, and Joseph (Lisa) Gerard, Rebecca (Shawn) Lannan; faithful companion “girls”, Ava and Schotzie; great-nieces, Paige and Elizabeth Gerard, Ember Lannan; great-nephew, Isaac Gerard.
In addition to his parents, John was preceded in death by his husband, Donald Settle.
Visitation will be 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., Friday, September 7, 2018, at Ziemer Funeral Home Central Chapel, 626 First Avenue. Where a memorial service will begin at 7:00 p.m. Funeral services will begin at 9:45 am, Saturday, September 8, 2018, at the funeral home and continue with a Mass of Christian Burial, at 10:00 am, at All Saints Parish, St. Anthony’s Campus, 704 North First Avenue, Evansville, Indiana, 47710, with Father
Stephen Lintzenich officiating. Burial will be at St. Joseph Cemetery. Memorial Contributions may be made to All Saints Parish, 704 North First Avenue, Evansville, Indiana, 47710. Condolences may be made online at www.ziemerfuneralhome.com.

To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of John Robert Gerard please visit our Sympathy Store.

R. Clark Exmeyer To Run For Vanderburgh County School Board

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Dear City-County Observer Readers

I wish to announce I am running for the 2nd District Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation Board 2nd District seat.

The  2nd District covers almost the same geographic area as the Vanderburgh County Commissioner’s District.

Yet, it will be voted upon by the entire county. The EVSC has done an outstanding job of educating our children. I would hope with my candidacy that I can make in some small way a contribution to the future of our community.

Thank You,

R. Clark Exmeyer

Food Inspection Report

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Food Inspection Reports 9-6-18

SCOOTERS

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AG Curtis Hill asks U.S. Supreme Court to ensure justice for 4-year-old girl and mother who were brutally slain

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Attorney General Curtis Hill announced today he has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate the death sentence of Fredrick Baer, a man convicted of brutally slashing to death a 4-year-old girl and her young mother.

“One of the most foundational functions of my office is to secure justice throughout the appeals process on behalf of crime victims,” Attorney General Hill said. “This mission is particularly critical with brutal and vicious crimes such as Fredrick Baer’s animalistic attack on an unsuspecting mother and her little girl. It would be a miscarriage of justice for the death sentence in this case to be overturned now, after Baer has been on death row for 13 years, and I’ll do everything within my authority to prevent such an odious outcome.”

The details of Baer’s crime are harrowing:

On Feb. 25, 2004, after already contemplating raping another woman he randomly spotted, Baer saw a young woman named Cory Clark taking trash to the curb at her home near Lapel, Indiana. He stopped and parked his car.

After Ms. Clark went back inside her home, Baer walked up to the woman’s house and knocked on the door. The first person to answer was 4-year-old Jenna Clark; the girl’s mother appeared moments thereafter. Baer asked if he could borrow a phone. Showing kindness to a stranger, Cory Clark offered him her phone and stepped back into her house, leaving Baer on the porch to presumably make a call.

Baer – as he later recounted to a court-appointed psychologist – stood on the porch weighing whether to proceed with raping the woman. Then he walked into the home, where a startled Cory Clark began screaming. Baer pulled a knife, grabbed Ms. Clark by the head, ordered her to shut up and forced her into her bedroom.

Wondering what was happening, little Jenna came down the hall looking for her mother. Baer blocked the closed door with his body and ordered Ms. Clark to tell her little girl to go away. Nonetheless, Jenna kept pushing against the door.

Rather than continuing with his initial plan to rape Cory Clark, Baer instead forced her into a kneeling position and slit her throat. Jenna Clark then burst into the bedroom to the sight of her murdered mother’s mutilated body.

Screaming, the child ran toward her own bedroom, but Baer gave chase – catching the girl and slicing her throat, nearly decapitating her.

After killing his victims, Baer took money from Cory Clark’s purse, collected some decorative rocks as souvenirs from his exploits and drove to his job at a construction site. He told co-workers he was late because he had gotten lost. Then he handed another crew member some cash and asked the co-worker to go buy him hamburgers.

After being convicted of murder, attempted rape and theft, Baer was sentenced to death. His convictions and sentence were twice affirmed by the Indiana Supreme Court, and a federal district court denied Baer’s request for habeas corpus. Now, several years later, a three-judge panel from the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Baer was entitled to habeas relief in the form of a new penalty phase of his trial – effectively sending the case back to Madison Circuit Court for a redo of sentencing.

Attorney General Hill sought to obtain an en banc rehearing of the matter – that is, the full court’s review of the three-judge panel’s ruling – but was rebuffed by the court. Taking this case to the U.S Supreme Court, Attorney General Hill noted that no one disputes Baer’s guilt or the basic facts of his horrendous crime.

The primary issue is a closing statement made by the prosecuting attorney, Attorney General Hill writes in the attached petition, that “Baer’s rough upbringing did not diminish the enormity of his crime: the brutal murder of a young mother and her four-year-old daughter. The prosecutor made the point by informing the jury of his own tough childhood and observing that, although his mother was a prostitute who succumbed to a drug overdose, he still became a county prosecutor.”

The petition adds, “The Seventh Circuit seized on this remark and granted Baer habeas relief, concluding that Baer received constitutionally inadequate assistance . . .  because his counsel did not allege prosecutorial misconduct or challenge certain jury instructions.”

In the attached petition, Attorney General Hill asks the U.S. Supreme Court to consider whether the Seventh Circuit violated the deferential review requirements of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act by disregarding the reasoned decision of the Indiana Supreme Court.

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