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EPD Releases Information On Weekend Burglary Arrest.

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On Saturday, June 30, just before 8 pm, Evansville Police received two 911 hang up calls to Mountain Valley Water Company. Officers arrived and observed that the front entry doors to the building had been busted in and the entry door to the company had been busted open also. Officers observed Littlebear Sullivan inside the business.

Littlebear was taken into custody after briefly refusing to comply to Officer’s commands. Officers determined that Littlebear broke into the business and attempted to set it on fire. Littlebear apparently decided to use a 10-gallon bottle of Mountain Valley Water to extinguish the fire and then called 911.

Littlebear was in possession of items from the business. Littlebear was charged with Arson and Burglary. He is assumed innocent until proven guilty.

Hernandez, Fresh Off ‘Bittersweet’ Title At Churchill, Gets Off To Quick Start On Ellis Park’s Opener

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Camacho wins first mount ever at the track on 43-1 Sage Master;
Starving Artist wires allowance feature for newcomer Beschizza
Brian Hernandez Jr., winner of the 2012 Ellis Park riding crown, didn’t waste any time taking the first steps toward potentially another riding title, winning Sunday’s second race aboard Menacing on the opening day of Ellis’ 2018 meet.
The Louisiana native was at Ellis the day after wrapping up his first riding title at Churchill Downs in his adopted hometown of Louisville, 43 wins to 38 for runner-up Florent Geroux. But the sheer joy that the accomplishment should have brought was countered by the anguish when the tight title tilt with his close friend and 15-time Churchill riding champ Corey Lanerie ended with the sudden death of Lanerie’s wife, Shantel.
Lanerie, who won the last two Ellis Park jockey titles, hasn’t ridden since June 21, when Shantel, who was undergoing treatment for Stage 1 breast cancer, had emergency surgery after an infected colon led to sepsis and cardiac arrest. She died the next day.
“It was a bittersweet moment,” Hernandez, who held a 36-35 lead over Lanerie on June 21, said of winning the title. “As everyone knows, Corey Lanerie and I were close in the standings, and his wife fell ill the last nine days of the meet and she succumbed to it. Our heart goes out to their family. It’s bittersweet to be able to win the title. But I wish we’d had Shantel here with us.”
Lanerie and their 10-year-old daughter, Brittlyn, came to Churchill’s closing day Saturday to be part of the presentation for the meet’s leading jockey.
“That was really special,” said the 32-year-old Hernandez, who in 2004 won the Eclipse Award as America’s outstanding apprentice jockey and in 2012 captured the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Fort Larned. “That was one of the requests Corey asked of me, to go ahead and try to win the title in Shantel’s memory. Like he said, if he couldn’t do it, she’d have loved for me to go ahead and do it. It was really special for him and Brittlyn to come down and get in the winner’s circle presentation and photo. It was just a special family moment.”
Hernandez spent one summer riding at Saratoga’s elite in upstate New York before deciding it made more business sense to stay at home in Kentucky with wife Jamie and their two young kids, riding at Ellis and shipping out for stakes for his clientele as needed.
“Especially the last couple of years, the 2-year-old program at Ellis has really gotten strong,” Hernandez said. “This is a great place to get young horses going in the summertime, and the track is always in great shape.”
Hernandez won 13 races at the 2017 Ellis meet, good for sixth place while missing a lot of days to ride in stakes out of state.
“That will kind of be the same deal this summer,” he said. “We do emphasize the stakes program, then try to go around the country to ride the better horses. That’s really what it’s all about. You want to be able to pick up better horses and keep moving forward with them.
“And that’s one reason we do come to Ellis because we pick up some nice 2-year-olds to go with the rest of the year and beyond. It makes it nice because you can come here and ride and then go home at night and spend quality time with the family. And with racing here only three days a week, it’s almost like a little summer vacation.”
Camacho makes first mount at Ellis memorable with a 43-1 winner
Jockey Sammy Camacho, trying to break into the Kentucky circuit after riding in New York, rode at Ellis Park for the first time in Sunday’s fourth race. He made it a most memorable debut, rallying from last on Del Loveland’s 43-1 shot Sage Master to nail the front-running favorite Shanghai Point by a head in the $7,500 claiming race. Sage Master paid $88.20 to win.
“First, I thank the trainer and owner for the opportunity,” Camacho said. “I’d never before been on this horse. I made my move, went outside and he gave me an amazing win in my first time at Ellis Park. That way you can show the people (you can ride). I love to win, and it’s really exciting.”
Camacho’s agent is a very familiar face at Ellis Park and throughout the Kentucky and Midwest circuits. As a jockey, Francisco Torres rode and won many races at the Pea Patch. Torres retired as a jockey last fall. He had made his latest successful comeback after sustaining a broken neck — his fourth — but when he went down in another spill at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans last Thanksgiving, he decided it was time to walk away while he could.
Torres was beaming after Camacho’s victory. “I’m so proud of him,” he said, adding cheerfully to the camera, “He’s a great rider, great up-and-coming rider. So if you can put him on amount, please do.”
Torres also is trying to break in, not on the circuit but as an agent lining up mounts for a jockey.
“It’s tough, not easy,” he said. “I thought me being well-known around the Kentucky circuit, it was going to be easy. But it’s not. You’ve got some of the top riders in the nation here, and to break into is hard. So we’re trying hard, working our butts off, during everything we can to try to get the better mounts.”
Starving Artist wires field in allowance field
The wealth was spread on opening day, with nine different jockeys and trainers winning. Among them were jockey Adam Beschizza and trainer Joe Sharp, who teamed to win the $43,000 first-level allowance feature with the 3-year-old filly Starving Artist. The cleverly-named daughter of Paynter, out of the mare Salary Drive, beat older fillies while covering the mile over firm turf in 1:34.29, paying $6.20 as the favorite. Sharp co-owns Starving Artist with Great Point Stables’ Sol Kumin, also a partner in the Brad Cox-trained Kentucky Oaks winner Monomoy Girl.
In her last race, Starving Artist broke from an outside post and led into the late stages at Churchill Downs before weakening to third, beaten a total of a length. She started from the rail Sunday.
“She’s a filly who sort of likes to get her own way,” said Beschizza, riding at Ellis Park for the first time as part of his circuit change to Kentucky. “I had her in front at Churchill Downs, and probably took a little too much (out of her) just to sort of sustain the lead. But today we got the inside post and everything worked out. I think you can get her in top gear. She’s got a fair amount of ability, this filly. It’s just trying to squeeze it out of her. These people (Kumin) have jumped in on board, Monomoy Girl’s owners, so I’m sure they’ll be pleased.”
Starving Artist needed six starts to win, doing so at the Fair Grounds the first time Beschizza rode her. Now 2-1-4 in 10 races, her only poor effort came at Keeneland over yielding turf.
“I’m delighted to ride my first winner here my first-day riding,” Beschizza said. “She was getting pretty flustered in the preliminaries, and I was a little bit worried. But she’s got an engine, she’s got a bit of class. She’ll improve. She likes fast turf, and on opening day today, the turf is in pristine condition.”
Bork anticipates ‘one of our best meets ever, no question’
Ellis Park doesn’t charge admission, so exact attendance isn’t known. But a sizable crowd, many families with young children, came out amid the track’s frequent companion: summer heat and humidity.
“It’s the beginning of summer and we are where we should be: Ellis Park,” said racing secretary Dan Bork, standing in the paddock near the track. “It’s not overly packed, but it’s a good crowd. We take all the precautions for our human and equine participants. We have water stations all the way around the track, we have water hoses here (through the stretch) and water hoses in the paddock. We have our state veterinarians closely monitoring everybody.
“We do have a lot of experience with this, and everybody helps out.”
Bork anticipates this being “one of our best meets ever, no question.”
Ellis Park is offering a record $230,000 in average daily purses and has added four stakes for a total of 10 throughout the meet that ends Labor Day.
“With our purse structure, stakes schedule, and the anticipation coming in, the people who are planning on running here, I think it will be one of our strongest meets ever,” Bork said.
Ellis Park is dark Monday and Tuesday, then resumes racing Wednesday with the July 4 card the first of five straight race days before the track goes to its Friday-through-Sunday schedule for the remainder of the meet, which concludes with the Sept. 3 Labor Day card. The track is open seven days a week for simulcasting and Historical Horse Racing gaming.

Otters fall in series finale to Rascals

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The Evansville Otters fell 8-2 in the finale of their series with the River City Rascals as the Rascals finished off the three-game sweep of the Otters at Bosse Field on Sunday afternoon.

With David Cronin at third and Ryan Long at second in the first inning, a wild pitch allowed both runners to score to put the Otters up 2-0.

River City got those runs back immediately in the top of the second thanks to a two-run single off the bat of Trevor Achenbach.

Zach Lavy tripled to lead off the third and then came home to score on a J.D Hearn RBI groundout.

A throwing error from Cronin the top of the sixth allowed two runs to score as he tried to complete a double play at third but threw wildly.

Paul Kronenfeld hit a solo homer in the eighth to extend the Rascals lead to 7-2.

Kevin Suarez ripped an RBI double in the ninth to further pad the Rascals advantage to 8-2.

Patrick McGuff takes the loss for the Otters, his first of the year, in his first start back off the disabled list. McGuff went four innings allowing three runs while striking out four.

Jonny Ortiz garners the win for the Rascals as he tossed six innings and limited the Otters to two runs, one earned, on two hits while punching out four.

EPD ACTIVITY REPORT

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EPD REPORT

Vanderburgh County Recent Booking Records

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http://www.vanderburghsheriff.com/jail-recent-booking-records.aspx

IS IT TRUE JULY 2, 2018

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We hope that today’s “Readers Forum” 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 a Vanderburgh County Health Department administrator told their staff that they expect to receive word that they have been accreditated sometime during May 2018? …that instead, the administrator of the Vanderburgh County Health Department received a letter citing 23 different deficiencies before they could be accredited?  …since the Vanderburgh County Health Department is a governmental agency and no patient information was included in the accreditation letter it should be made public?

IS IT TRUE at last years City Council budget hearing very few cuts were made to the 2018 budget?  …we hope that won’t be the case this budget year?

IS IT TRUE its obvious that City Controller Russ Lloyd, Jr. should give City Council a detailed explanation how he forgot to pay the $369,000 worth of bills for the Victory Theater during the 2017 budget year?  …City Controller Russ Lloyd, Jr. had to take $369,000 from the Victory Theater 2018 city budget to pay for the operating costs for the Victory Theater in 2017?   … we wonder how Mr. Lloys is going to pay for the Victory Theater operating costs for 2018?

IS IT TRUE that nothing was said during the 2018 budget hearings about how Mayor Winnecke plans to pay for the Evansville Thunderbolts Hockey team operating expenses?  …we hope that Mayor Winnecke will be more forthcoming concerning the 2019 Thunderbolts operating budget? … It’s time for the Mayor to make a formal and detailed statement concerning this issue during the upcoming City Council budget hearings?

IS IT TRUE it now looks like former City Council President and Finance Chairman John Friend, CPA predictions three years ago that in 2018 the City of Evansville will be experiencing serious financial challenges may spot on?  …it also looks like Mr. Friends predictions that the 2019 city budget could be even worse may be spot on? 

IS IT TRUE we hope that members of the Evansville City Council will request that the Evansville City Controller, Russ Lloyd Jr provide them with an accounting breakdown of Invoices and Unrecorded Liabilities, for 2017 and 2018? …we hope that Evansville City Council members will request financial information that had to do with Account Payable Open Items Reports for 2017-2018?

IS IT TRUE we hope that members of the Evansville City Council will finally address the out of control city employees healthcare deficits?

IS IT TRUE it might be time for City Council to revisit cutting city grants to area not-for-profits?

IS IT TRUE  that last year the City of Evansville collected a little over $371 million in taxes which was an increase of 7.6% over the previous budget year?…we wonder how on earth that a city that has ZERO population growth and minimal wage growth feel that they can collect 7.6% more tax money from its huddled masses than it did the year before?

IS IT TRUE with runaway spending at the city level, coupled with the rise in electric bills, increase in the county wheel tax, increase in property tax assessments and the oppressive water and sewer bills, one could easily conclude that the citizens of River City are bleeding to death from the irresponsible governance past, present, and future?

IS IT TRUE we hope that the Evansville City Council will take another look at the $102,500 annual subsidy grant given by the city to New Hope Baptist Church to provide a shuttle to drive people to work on outer Highway 41?

IS IT TRUE we are hearing that some people are beginning to question the legality of The Friends Of Mayor Winnecke Newsletter since is already announced that he’s a candidate for re-election?  …we are told since the Mayor alleges that he pays for this Newsletter from his own campaign funds some people feel that it should be considered a form of campaign advertising and should have a disclaimer on it??  …we also hear that the Mayor’s public announcement at the Regional Airport is also going to be challenged as political campaigning?…this is an obviously a developing story?

Todays “Readers Poll” question Is: Do you feel that the Winnecke Administration should give a detailed explanation to City Council on how much did it costs the taxpayer to subsidized the Thunderbolt Hockey team for 2018?

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.

If you would like to advertise on the CCO please contact us CityCountyObserver@live.com.

 

INTERVIEW WITH INDIANA STATE SENATOR JIM TOMES

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INTERVIEW WITH INDIANA STATE SENATOR JIM TOMES!

by: Dan Barton, Publisher of The New-Harmony Gazette 

These are excerpts of an interview with Indiana State Senator Jim Tomes conducted by the New Harmony Gazette Publisher, Dan Barton:

DAN BARTON – I would like to thank you for helping Lora Arneberg and the Harmony Way Bridge Committee in getting the Bridge Authority Bill passed by the Indiana Legislature. This can work to get funding for reopening the bridge. It has been a long time coming.

JIM TOMES – Yes. That’s true.

DB – Other Legislators have tried and failed in the past. We appreciate all that you’ve done to help get that accomplished. Lora Arneberg has said that you’ve been a great help.

JIM TOMES – I was just honored to be a part of it.

DB – You have said that one of the most important things you thought about in terms of the multitude of problems that suddenly cropped up in New Harmony was the possible damage to our Wabash River shoreline. There hasn’t been a United States Geodesic Survey Study done in several years to determine what damage if any, there is underneath the rip-rap on the northern riverbank that was laid down by the Army Corps of Engineers in about 2002. The concern by some is that the river may be doing considerable damage underneath this revetment and that it needs to be assessed. If the rip-rap were to collapse where the river strikes that area, it could come into New Harmony.

JIM TOMES – Yes it could.

DB – About a year ago, three of our citizens here in New Harmony went to Indianapolis and met with several different government agencies about the possible erosion of our Wabash River shoreline. Particularly the northwest riverbank. The outcome was that the U.S.G.S would initially partly fund the study but that New Harmony would have to fund (A/O December 2017) some $15,000 or 80% of the project. Council president Blaylock wanted to get a better deal and asked Councilman Flanders, who had been a member of the three-person panel, to go back and get a lower price. (Since the Gazette meeting with Jim Tomes, Councilman David Flanders has come back to the Town Council with some adjusted figures by USGS for both a one-time study and for two surveys. For a one time survey of the riverbank, New Harmony’s cost would be $7,300. A two-time study, both 2018 and 2020, would cost New Harmony $15,600.)

So once again, like the Harmony Way Bridge and the New Harmony School, it’s the citizens of New Harmony who are left to fend for themselves. This is a very serious issue. We don’t know today whether the river has seriously undercut the shoreline or not. But we need to find out.

I would like to hear some of your ideas on this.

JIM TOMES – Well, on the issue of the bridge, you know, since I first got elected I’ve been trying to get the bridge re-opened. I drove across that bridge many, many times when I was driving trucks for a living. I crossed it when I was driving for Yellow Freight and I know how critical that bridge is. I know we’ve got the Interstate and the bridge in Mt. Vernon and that’s nice, but the Harmony Way Bridge is a crucial roadway for getting from Carmi to over here. I knew how important it was and what a strain it has put on this community by closing it. And then the school closed and that was another big hit.

But my concern was not only the bridge and the school but also this Wabash River. I remember in my first year after being elected, a conservation group brought me to look at some property that they owned. We were out in one of the cornfields and I noticed that the corn stubble was right at the edge of the riverbank. I was thinking, “ Now I know that farmer didn’t plant that corn that closes to the edge.” While we were talking a big chunk of ground just broke off and fell into the river. I mean a BIG chunk. When it splashed it got our attention. A few moments later another big chunk broke lose. So we walked back from the river’s edge. That river is fast flowing even when it is at a low level.

I will never forget that visit and see that landfall off; soil, ground, gone forever. I remember when Margie and I were working at Harmony State Park after I retired, part-time, around 2008. We went to bed one night, got up the next morning, and the river had taken up a couple of thousand acres. Just like that! Overnight!

Congressman Larry Bucshon, Tom Straw and the Corps of Engineers took us just north of town to see the rip-rap. We were watching that river. Tom Straw had a lot of information and contour maps showing how that river has changed course over time. It was obvious that this should be the main concern.

The Wabash River and the floods we’ve been having lately – I remember several years ago that there was water in the streets here and people were pumping water out of their basements. They’d never done that before. Around 2014, I had a meeting up here with the Corps of Engineers. That’s when they came up here talking about the floodplain.

DB – There have been calls for a shoreline study to determine whether the Wabash is undercutting.

JIM TOMES – Someone here in New Harmony needs to come up with a workable approach to this. I mean a real idea like the one they came up with about the bridge. The idea Lora Arneberg presented was fabulous. She did a fabulous job. That took a lot of work. It wasn’t done overnight. She was persistent in that. When that came up it was an example of people who got together with a legitimate suggestion. By far more than anything else presented.

Some folks had ideas that were too grandiose. No one had a really good idea of how they would implement their ideas. What’s good about the Bridge Authority idea is that the government is not totally involved in it. They are not involved in the operation of the Authority. This will be the responsibility of the people who control the Authority itself. When individuals are doing it and the government’s not involved then it works more efficiently. I know money is always an issue but I like the way this was done. I think it’s great!

It took a lot of drive to get this Authority idea off the ground. A lot of fire, and staying with it. And being successful against all odds.

DB – To get back to the river shoreline matter – and the study that some of our people think is needed, do you know of a way that someone in the State Capitol can help out on this U.S.G.S Study? A grant or money to cover the gap in funds for this? This is really a State funding issue. The Town of New Harmony could use help on these infrastructure problems. If you know anyone up there who can be instrumental in this and you can put them in touch with me, I will then put them in touch with the Councilman who has been pushing for the study.

( At this point Senator Tomes pointed out to me that I should try to get in touch with Lt. Governor Crouch, either at a local meeting or luncheon that she schedules here in New Harmony or SW Indiana or through her office. I decided to communicate with the L.G.s Press Secretary and to find out about a meeting or what the L.G.s schedule for SW Indiana is like. So far that information has not been forthcoming. The other remark that Senator Tomes made to me was, that to succeed in our endeavor, we must be persistent, persistence is the key. I will keep trying.)

NEW HARMONY TOWN COUNCIL SHORELINE REPORT! by: Dan Barton, Publisher, The New-Harmony Gazette.

** Most recently, at the June 19th, New Harmony Town Council meeting, Roger Wade, and Alvin Blaylock both indicated that they had taken a boat ride up the Wabash with an Elastec, Inc. boat and crew using equipment supplied by Elastec to scan the river bottom and shoreline. It showed a hole in the river bottom only 26 feet deep, and not what had been previously reported as 60 feet deep, according to Wade. They said the rip-rap shoreline had a gradual incline with no indication of damage. Councilman Wade said that they found no anomalies on the scan that would indicate any problems with the state of the rip-rap or the NW Shoreline. He said that they will be taking another look in the Fall when Elastec returns to the area. Neither Blaylock nor Wade are known to be trained Hydrologists or Sonar Technicians. It looks like the Town has postponed or unofficially decided against Councilman Flanders idea for a more extensive examination of the NW Shore by U.S.G.S.

The advantage of a U.S.G.S. study is that U.S.G.S. formalizes the study that they do with a full scale is written report and copies of the river shoreline and river bottom scan.
U.S.G.S. Technicians are also trained for this type of study. They do data/slices that can be compared with previous U.S.G.S. studies to show trends from previous studies taken. Copies of these reports are filed and kept at the Working Men’s Institute in perpetuity, just in case anyone wishes to study them. The Blaylock, Wade study, or what I call the B.W.G.S. study, has no such formal procedure. Untrained observers wouldn’t know whether what they observed shows a trend or the depth of holes, dimensions of cracks and rip-rap shoreline displacement. They would not be the best-trained observers and couldn’t professionally assess the health of the riprap. Since there is no scanned copy or written report from B.W.G.S. we only have their testimony via the New Harmony Town Council meeting minutes of what they say they saw and how safe and secure they think everything is. It would be a good idea if these Councilmen had their study results from Elastec certified by the U.S.G.S. as accurate. They could submit their report for certification, which could later be filed with WMI along with all of the other study reports, for future public access.

As a follow up I called Elastic and spoke to Vice President Jeff Cantrell. He said that Blaylock/Wade did take the boat trip. Cantrell wasn’t on the boat but heard about it. He said that they wanted to eyeball the shoreline and rip-rap but when they saw the Garmin fish finder on board they asked to look at the images that it produced to view the river bottom. Cantrell said the device has GPS and is a fish/river bottom scanner. I asked him if the scan was kept on record or if there was an official report by Elastic. He said no to both questions. He also said

that Elastec was not certifying or interpreting the scan results. He said, “No! That’s not our business. It’s not what we do.” He indicated that the analysis was strictly interpreted by Blaylock and Wade. Cantrell was asked by me if the Fish Finder was as good as what U.S.G.S. uses and he said there was no comparison. He said that U.S.G.S. uses a much more sophisticated Side-Scan sonar that is made just for doing the type of analysis we were talking about, i.e. shelf erosion, contours of the river bottom and the condition of the rip-rap. The last point here is that U.S.G.S. would be looking beyond the rip-rap itself and at the entire shoreline for deterioration and erosion. How does this compare to the Blaylock/Wade analysis? **

FOOTNOTE:  PART ONE: THE WABASH RIVER SHORELINE & NEW BRIDGE AUTHORITY.   In PART TWO: next month – Senator Tomes discusses the New Harmony School closing.

ACLU, PPINK Expect Indiana To Keep Passing Abortion Laws

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Marilyn Odendahl for www.theindianalawyer.com

Speaking at a press conference about Thursday’s federal court order stopping another abortion law passed by the Indiana Legislature, ACLU of Indiana legal director Ken Falk noted this is not the first time the Statehouse has passed a bill attempting to limit abortions.

“Welcome to our annual meeting in June to discuss lawsuits concerning recent abortion laws,” he said.

The preliminary injunction granted by the Southern Indiana District Court prevents a provision in SEA 340 that would have required Planned Parenthood and its doctors to report what the law described as abortion complications. Failure to do so could have resulted in licensing sanctions as well as criminal charges.

The ACLU of Indiana, on behalf of Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, argued that provision was so vague that no one knew what to report.

“When dealing with a law that has criminal penalties and licensing penalties, due process demands specificity both to protect Planned Parenthood but also the people enforcing the law to understand what the law is,” Falk said.

However, with a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court and many suspecting the landmark Roe v. Wade could be overturned, it is not certain that Planned Parenthood will continue to be successful in blocking new Indiana laws.

Christie Gillespie, president, and CEO of PPINK said she could not predict what Indiana lawmakers would do if the Supreme Court reverses precedent.

“I think that we can expect every year in the General Assembly, based on their history, that there will be some sort of anti-choice legislation introduced and likely passed in the state of Indiana,” she said.

Falk noted court observers along with proponents and opponents of abortion may be getting ahead of themselves. He pointed out the Supreme Court has indicated it is not a legislature that changes positions because it gets new members. Instead, it has “tremendous respect” for precedent.

“We’ll just have to see what happens,” he said.

After the press conference, Gillespie said abortions will not stop regardless of what the Supreme Court does.

“Just because Roe v. Wade could be overturned, it doesn’t end abortions,” she said. “It just ends safe and legal abortions. We can go back in every period of history and see women have found ways to end unintended pregnancies.”

 

 

Department of Revenue Rebrands To Focus On Customer Service

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By Brynna Sentel
TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS—Hoosiers are no longer simply taxpayers to the Indiana Department of Revenue. They are customers.

Looking at people as more than taxpayers are part of DOR’s efforts to rebrand and refocus its work with five priorities—customer service, culture, compliance, collaboration and continuous improvements.

DOR Commissioner Adam Krupp discussed how his agency is working to transform itself into a more customer-focused environment Tuesday during the agency’s annual meeting to solicit feedback from the public.

The majority of public recommendations were about ways to make DOR’s information more accessible to customers. Transparency is one of the department’s top goals.

“Simply there is a new energy at the department and the beneficiaries of that energy are those we serve,” Krupp said.

Tax handlers are now customer service representatives just as taxpayers are customers.

The department has undergone changes that include new staffing, new training, new technology, expanded hours and new processing procedures.

“Workplace culture has a direct impact on employee health and also the performance of any organization,” Krupp said told the people gathered at the Indiana Government Center.

Krupp said the department is working to shed the government employee label to become known as a great place to work.

When it comes to compliance, the DOR will hold itself accountable to its customers.

“The prudent thing is to make sure we have current accurate and defensible decisions when it comes to our business requirements and rules to be worked into the new system,” Krupp said.

Collaboration with the state and the communities it represents is important to fix any problems the department may have, he added.

“To the extent possible it is important to bring those impacted to the discussion and have a seat at the table,” Krupp said.

In 2017, DOR created the first commissioner’s task advisory council to suggest improvements. And working to continuously improve processes ensures no issue goes unaddressed, Krupp said, adding that the department will never be flawless as long as there is room for human error. His main concern is with how errors are addressed.

Krupp cited some of the DOR’s accomplishments, including improvements to the taxpaying process. Of the more than three million individual tax returns filed this year, two million generated a refund.

Taxpayers—or customers—are getting their refunds faster, Krupp noted. The turnaround time for a refund from the state is currently 10.7 days compared to 14.5 days in 2017.

“Hoosiers continue to file electronically in record numbers,” Krupp said.

The department is proud of the work they have done, Krupp said, but he recognizes there is much more to do.

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

Noise Ordinance Statement As Published In The Friends Of Mayor Winnecke News Letter

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Noise Ordinance Statement As Published In The Friends Of Mayor Winnecke Newsletter

City Council recently passed a noise ordinance that was considered relatively similar to the status quo, which already sets noise limits of 75 decibels (dB) at all times on all property.

While opponents felt that the ordinance was targeted at a specific entertainment establishment, the proponents felt that it was a citywide problem. The United Neighborhoods of Evansville (UNOE) submitted a letter of support for a more restrictive noise ordinance, while representatives of Marina Pointe highlighted the significant investments made at their venue.

Prior to the meeting, the Courier & Press ran a story focusing solely on the Mayor’s wife’s position. We are confident that a member of city council pitched the story to the newspaper in an attempt to embarrass the Mayor. Here is a link to the story: Courier and Press Story

Leading up to the meeting, both the Mayor and Deputy Mayor had been in contact with the owners of Marina Pointe and neighborhood leaders, in an effort to keep an open mind on the proposed ordinance. Mayor Winnecke said from the beginning that he was willing to support a reasonable noise ordinance that would not place undue hardships on local businesses.

While several amendments were approved, the most significant change was to allow trash haulers to operate at any time. Instead of restricting the start time to 6:00 am or 7:00 am, a majority of council voted to exempt trash haulers completely.

The final ordinance was approved by a 9-0 vote, transferring all enforcement duties to the Evansville Police Department. Following the vote, the city council attorney reminded everyone that noise is measured at the receiving property, not the source of origin. Under city code, it is irrelevant if the source of the noise generates noise louder than 75 dB. Rather, it matters only if the noise reaches a neighboring residence above 75 dB.

This was a long-debated issue that resulted in little change.

FOOTNOTE: This statement was posted by the CCO without editing.
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