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?

WHATS ON YOUR MIND TODAY?

Todays “Readers Poll” question is: Are you surprised that Echo Housing decided to start the Garvin Street and Lloyd $6 million dollars homeless apartments project without disclosing the recent Forensic Audit findings?

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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Now they have even more questions after they say an original plan was changed without any notice. They noticed the changes only after access to their road, Fielding Manor Court, was shut down. There’s not many living on the private road, just 6 families, but they say a new plan to route their only way to and from their homes is a major detriment.

The way the new plan has the current Fielding Manor Drive going away. When finished, the project has the new Fielding Manor Drive actually going through the parking lot of the to be built IGA store. The homeowners there say this would greatly decrease their home values, increase traffic and decrease accessibility. They say they moved in for the secluded safe feeling and they are already losing that.

Some of the homeowners have been trying to get any official to give them some answers. They have been put through the ringer, INDOT tells them to go to the city of Evansville, the city tells them to talk to the city council, but they say it all boils down to the city engineer’s office.

ATTACHED BELOW IS THE STATEMENT THAT 44NEWS RECEIVED FROM THE EVANSVILLE CITY ENGINEERS’S OFFICE.

“The project has gone through many steps. Step one was to rezone the property to meet the County’s zoning regulations. The Area Plan Commission voted 7-3 against the rezoning, with two abstentions. The rezoning request was forwarded to City Council for a final vote. The City Council reversed the Area Plan Commission’s decision and vote 6-3 in favor of the rezoning. The City Engineer’s office then began 18 months of coordination with multiple departments, reviewing options for access along Fielding Road and developing the best possible solution for safety and mobility. The best solution is to move the access for the development far away from of the Lloyd Expressway, which sees nearly 60,000 vehicles per day.

The approach to Fielding Manner [sic] Drive was consolidated with the commercial drive access to maintain as few “conflict points” as possible. Also, by realigning Fielding Manner [sic] Drive, the grade of the drive will be reduced by approximately 6 percent and the drive within the right-of-way will be widened to 25-feet wide to improve safety and mobility.”

There is still some hope for the homeowners. While they don’t understand how a private easement that they have taken care of for 20 years could just be handed over to a private company, a resident who lives there says she has a phone call with the Mayor of Evansville on Monday.

A Review of Various Actions by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Justice in Advance of the 2016 Election

https://www.oversight.gov/report/doj/review-various-actions-federal-bureau-investigation-and-department-justice-advance-2016

by Peter Flint

Welcome to the Hotel California. You can check out any time you like but, to paraphrase the Eagles, your money can never leave.

The state has a problem faced by few others: What to do with roughly $13 billion in extra money.

Tax revenue here is running far ahead of projections and politicians on both sides of the aisle think it’s time to slice up the surplus pie. However, most Democrats see it as an opportunity to increase spending on social projects, while most Republicans advocate a more direct give-back, such as lowering the 12-cent per gallon gasoline tax.

Governor Jerry Brown, whose final budget before he leaves office was approved this month, is worried about rainy days. “This is a time to save for our future, not to make pricey promises we can’t keep,” Brown warned. “I said it before and I’ll say it again: Let’s not blow it now.”

Brown speaks from experience. Just seven years ago, as he began his third term, California was $27 billion in the red. Belt-tightening, increased taxes and a surge in the state’s economy has changed things dramatically.

Just six months ago, the governor was projecting a surplus of roughly $6 billion. Last month he revised the figure to nearly $9 billion. Now, Brown says his “Rainy Day Fund” will grow to its constitutional maximum of $13.8 billion within the next 12 months.

Why not just give the money back? It happened once, in 1986, when Republican Gov. George Deukmejian returned $1.1 billion to taxpayers.

But Brown and the Democrats, who control the legislature in Sacramento, believe these are volatile times, with financial collapse always looming.

The state’s most contentious money matter is its gasoline tax. Californians have the dubious distinction of using their cars more than most Americans, while also paying some of the nation’s highest prices at the pump. The gasoline tax revenue is used for badly needed road repairs – budgeted at $52 billion over the next decade.

A move is underway to get a gas tax repeal measure on the November ballot. Polls show that is one issue that could draw a significant number of Democrats over to the Republican position.

More than any other state, California has a boom-or-bust economy. The tech explosion in recent years has fueled the boom. But there are still grim reminders of the very recent past when school programs were slashed, food programs for the needy were cut, and the state’s highways fell into serious disrepair.

To Jerry Brown’s credit, his new budget does not contain the lavish spending increases that some of his more progressive supporters advocate. But it also avoids cuts and give-backs that would leave the state vulnerable. The state endured a $40 billion deficit in 2009 – a sum that dwarfs the current Rainy Day savings.

And so, a reasonable Californian might say, “I was thinking to myself, ‘This could be heaven or this could be hell.’”

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Death List WK 6-11-18 TO 6-15-18