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IS IT TRUE MAY 14, 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 are extremely appreciative and proud of the way that members of our local law enforcement conducted themselves during a violent shooting standoff on Diamond Avenue last week? …the members of our local law enforcement did a creditable job in protecting the innocent bystanders and neighbors in harm’s way?   …we give five (5) cheers to the outstanding members of the SWAT team who ran down the alleged shooter hiding in an alley and captured this criminal from the darkness?

IS IT TRUE that the State of Indiana has ruled that people who go to the polls can’t wear a Make America Great Again hat within a safe distance of the polling place?…that is sort of odd since President Trump is not on the ballot?…maybe this law is to prevent sending other voters to the nut house due to a raging attack on Trump Derangement Syndrome?

IS IT TRUE that Congressman Larry Bucshon trounced the field in the Republican primary to run for his re-election to Congress? …Bucshon didn’t rise to debate any challengers and still administered a colossal beating on the rest of the field?…when it comes to the November elections Bucshon seems poised to have an easy path back to Washington as he has more money, a great economy, and a financially challenged local Democrat machine to defeat?… it looks like Indiana’s 8th district may not be in play this year and most people know it?

IS IT TRUE that the tall building commonly known as the 5th 3rd Tower has a new owner?…the new owners are the shareholders of a business that calls itself Riverview that is reportedly owned by a group of three local investors?…while we wish this endeavor well it must be pointed out that investments in big old buildings in downtown Evansville have not been a big moneymaker in many decades?…the 420 Building that formerly was the world headquarters of Old National Bank has been on the market for close to 20 years without attracting a buyer that could close the deal?  …there have been several attempts with good intentions but the reality of the market is that it costs more to bring these dinosaurs up to state of the art than they appraise for and this makes financing the deals impossible?…other buildings have sold for less than $10 per square foot or even brought no bids at auction?…after what must be approaching a billion dollars of incentivized investment in downtown Evansville, the buildings may not worth the cost to refurbish them?…with 5th 3rd as a long term tenant the new owners may well cash flow but getting other tenants at rates that are high enough to really prosper will be tougher?

IS IT TRUE that a perfect example of a downtown real estate deal gone mad is the McCurdy Hotel?…between $600,000 parking lot deals, with alleged crony contributions of nearly a million buck in incentives from the Evansville ERC and DMD over many years , the McCurdy still may be on its last breath?…the culprit that may have killed the McCurdy business model in recent history is the City of Evansville?

IS IT TRUE City Attorney Marco DiLucio has let it be known that he has put the city into a legal position to collect $1.5 Million for a year’s worth of water bills run up by the owners of the McCurdy?…at this rate for water and sewer bills there is no business model for the McCurdy that has market rents that will generate profits?…it is also true that Counselor Marco cannot get blood from a turnip and he has to know that?…imposing such a bill on the owners negates the entire value of the building and will eventually lead the McCurdy back into ruin as it was for eight years after Weinzapfel’s deal with an Indianapolis based campaign donor came unravelled?…there is plenty of egg on plenty of faces over the McCurdy farce?

IS IT TRUE that in a brilliant but less than a friendly campaign back in 2003, a youthful Jonathan Weinzapfel defeated incumbent Russell Lloyd Jr. with a misleading but slightly amusing campaign ad with a court jester running the bases of a baseball diamond to the tune of “take me out to the ball game”?…this was of course a way to denigrate Mayor Lloyd for wanting to build a baseball diamond in downtown Evansville that already had an AAA team set to come to town?…the stadium would have costed $20 million and lost Lloyd the election?…four years later Weinzapfel squandered $127.5 million on a hockey rink that still bleeds $9 million per year away from Evansville taxpayers?

IS IT TRUE we recently met an extremely interesting 18-year-old Senior at North High working in the Steve Hammer For the Vanderburgh County Commission campaign? …that Aulden Nance was extremely impressive in his attempt to get Mr. Hammer elected to this position? ..we encourage this North High School Senior to continue to support political candidates that he feels worthy of serving our community in public office?  …we encourage other young people to follow Mr. Nance lead?

IS IT TRUE we appreciate the excellent work that the Evansville Otters Media Relations Manager Zane Clodfelter is doing? …Mr. Clodfelter sends us detailed and well-written articles concerning the game stats of each Otters game in a timely manner?

Todays “Readers Poll” question is: Do you feel that recently announced Democratic Vanderburgh County Commission candidate Jeff Hatfield can beat Republican Mike Duckworth?

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.

 

 

Owner of Showplace Cinemas Dies at 80

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Owner of Showplace Cinemas Dies at 80

MAY 14TH, 2018 TYRONE MORRIS EVANSVILLE, INDIANA

The owner of Showplace Cinemas has passed away. Paul Stieler of Evansville died Sunday at his home. After graduating from Memorial High School in 1955 Stieler began his career managing Loew’s Majestic Theatre and the Victory Theatre.

He bought the Victory then started North Park Cinemas. Stieler diversified into several restaurants before expanding the theatre business to include several showplace locations.

Visitation will be Thursday from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m., where a memorial service will be held at 7 p.m., at Ziemer Funeral Home East Chapel, 800 South Hebron Avenue, Evansville.

Visitation will continue from 9:30 – 10 a.m., Friday at Annunciation Parish, Christ the King Campus, 3010 Chandler Ave, and where a Mass of Christian Burial will begin at 10 a.m., with Father Alex Zenthoefer and Father Ted Tempel officiating.

Stieler was 80-years-old.

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Supreme Court Backs New Jersey’s Bid To Legalize Sports Betting

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Cash-hungry states betting Supreme Court will legalize sports gambling

New Jersey’s current governor, Phil Murphy, said he was “thrilled” by the ruling and would work with state lawmakers to enact a law authorizing sports betting “in the very near future.”

“Today’s ruling will finally allow for authorized facilities in New Jersey to take the same bets that are legal in other states in our country,” Murphy said.

 Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito said the problem with the federal law is that “state legislatures are put under the direct control of Congress.”

“A more direct affront to state sovereignty is not easy to imagine,” he wrote.

New Jersey wants to allow limited forms of sports gambling and to collect the taxes from it. While supporters of the federal law said it discouraged betting and the resulting corrupting influence of organized crime on athletics, Christie said Americans already spend nearly $150 billion a year on illegal sports wagering.

“I know that we don’t know much about organized crime coming from New Jersey. But we know a little bit. And the fact is that organized crime is involved in profiting from this every day,” he said.

The American Gaming Association estimated that Americans would wager $10 billion on this year’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament alone, with just three percent of the bets placed legally through Nevada.

“Today’s decision is a victory for the millions of Americans who seek to bet on sports in a safe and regulated manner,” the association said in a statement Monday. “Today’s ruling makes it possible for states and sovereign tribal nations to give Americans what they want: An open, transparent and responsible market for sports betting.”

The NCAA and the major professional sports leagues contended that the law was not unconstitutional, because it didn’t compel states to do anything, it simply prevented them from making sports betting legal by either operating sports-gambling schemes themselves or authorizing casinos to do so.

New Jersey officials said they would allow only certain types of sports betting, at casinos and racetracks, with a minimum age of 21 to participate. When the case was argued in January, Christie said the state was prepared to act within two weeks of a Supreme Court ruling in its favor.

USI Softball Advances to Super Regionals

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USI Softball Advances to Super Regionals

MAY 13TH, 2018 NICK RUFFOLO EVANSVILLE, INDIANA, SPORTS, USI

Southern Indiana softball did it again. The Screaming Eagles (34-23) will head back to the Sweet 16 after defeating Midwest Region Tournament No. 1 host Grand Valley State 2-1 Sunday.

USI entered the day in the winner’s bracket and the Lakers (44-9) needed to beat the Screaming Eagles twice to dethrone the reigning champs.

No. 9 GVSU won the first game 5-3, but the Screagles rebounded in the second game for a 2-1 win.

Caitlyn Bradley’s RBI double in the third inning made it 2-0 and senior Haylee Smith held things down in the circle, allowing only one run.

However, the Screaming Eagles defense played a big role as well with nine hits, three walks, and two errors only resulting in one run coming across to score.

Next up for USI is the Midwest Super Regional against No. 19 the University of Illinois at Springfield.

The Screaming Eagles three-game series against conference foe UIS starts Thursday.

First pitch from Springfield, Ill. is at 1:30 p.m.

Last year, the Screaming Eagles hosted the Midwest Super Regional and defeated Wayne State 2-0 in a three-game series to advance to the Division II championships in Salem, Va.

Special Session Includes Tax And School Bills

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May 14, 2018  

By Abrahm Hurt
TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Democrats are worried that the May 14 special legislative session is undemocratic by not involving Hoosier voices.

“My fundamental problem is this is being handled in an amazingly undemocratic fashion,” said state Rep. Ed Delaney, D-Indianapolis. “How can we consider legislation without testimony, without committee hearings and without the possibility of an amendment?”

Lawmakers will meet at the Statehouse on May 14 for a special one-day session to act on bills that legislators failed to pass before the end of the regular session. Republican leaders in the House and Senate, who hold supermajorities, have said they want to limit the work to a single day where they will tackle tax and education bills.

While the Democrats have expressed their concern, Indiana Republicans have said the bills already had a public testimony, gone through committees and been amended. They have said the bills will be exactly the way they looked the night of March 14 when the regular session ended.

“With the exception of a technical corrections bill recommended for adoption by the Legislative Services Agency, the four other bills will be eligible for a final vote in the same form they were in on the last night,” House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said. “This process will complete our work just as it should have been with the limited expense to the taxpayer.”

The estimated cost for the special session is $30,000 per day with legislators receiving a daily expense stipend of $173 as determined by the federal government.

The proposed legislation, motions and fiscal notes for the bills being considered were released to the public April 30.

“We are delivering on our pledge of full transparency and openness with regard to the special session,” Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne, said in a statement.  “I’m hopeful that this will help facilitate an efficient process when we gather on May 14 to complete our work on these important issues.”

 

The four pieces of legislation are:

  1. House Bill 1230 would provide $5 million for school safety that Holcomb had requested during the session. The bill would allow school corporations to obtain funding advances of up to $500,000 for school security equipment and capital purchases, but total advances are not allowed to exceed $35 million.
  2. Senate Bill 242––now House Bill 1242 because it will start in the House––is a tax bill which would have exempted trucks, pavers, vehicle parts and fuel purchased by a hot mix asphalt company from Indiana’s 7 percent sales tax.
  3. House Bill 1315 would establish a process to single out struggling schools. It would allow the state to take over the Gary and Muncie community schools, and it authorizes a $12 million loan to the Muncie school corporations.
  4. House Bill 1316 will update the state’s tax code to comply with recent federal changes.

House Bill 1457 will make technical corrections to legislation passed this year.

Delaney said the legislation regarding the Gary and Muncie schools is punitive, not legislative.

“Every school district in the state ought to be concerned that if they somehow offend the supermajority either because of real economic problems or because of mismanagement that their school district will be brought before the General Assembly and subjected to punishment,” he said.

Rep. Melanie Wright, D-Yorktown, said until it’s understood why these school corporations are struggling, the problem will continue. She said the legislature needs to look at how property tax caps, changes to the complexity index and school choice have affected school corporations.

“We’ve never really looked at the impact of those three things separately, let alone how they interact,” Wright said. “I think part of that is playing out in some of our school systems, and I think until we look at the larger vision of why is this problem happening, I think we’re bound to see it repeating.”

Lawmakers will meet on Monday to review the agenda for the special session.

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

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Nature News

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Nature Playscape
Grand Opening
Saturday, May 26
10 am – 3 pm

Join us to celebrate the Grand Opening of the Welborn Baptist Foundation Nature Playscape at Wesselman Woods!

After 4 years of planning, fundraising, and building, we are so excited to welcome you to the largest Nature PlayScape in the country.

What is a Nature Playscape? A Playscape is a play environment intentionally designed to engage in and with nature. Its purpose is to develop children’s love of nature through unstructured play in the outdoors.

Join us for a full day of play. (And dress to get dirty!) In addition to being one of the first to play in our Nature Playscape, we have a full schedule of fun activities all day long.

Vectren Energy Delivery of Indiana Union Employees Ratify New Labor Agreement

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Teamsters Local 135 voted late Thursday to ratify a new three-year contract for its Vectren Energy Delivery (Vectren) employee-members. Local 135 represents Vectren’s natural gas employees in the Vincennes, Washington and Princeton areas in southwestern Indiana.

The early settlement comes months prior to the expiration of the existing contract in late September. Management and union representatives began discussions on the new contract in late April.

“A successful negotiation process and early mutual agreement are good news for our employees and their families,” said Vectren’s Senior Vice President of Utility Operations and President of VUHI, Jon Luttrell. “This contract ensures our skilled, dedicated workforce will continue providing safe, reliable natural gas to our customers in southwestern Indiana.”

 

Commentary: Passing Time With The Pastime

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By John Krull
TheStatehouseFile.com 

INDIANAPOLIS – The bat feels like a toothpick in my hands.

The baseball floats in the air and a small boy chases after it.

I’m tapping fly balls with a child’s bat in my front yard on a lazy Saturday afternoon to a neighbor’s 6-year-old son. My own son – now a strapping 6-feet-2-inch teenager – coaches the little boy.

“When you’re judging a fly ball,” my son says, “your first step is always back.”

He also shows the younger boy how to control his throws better by making the motion overhand, rather than sidearm. The little boy listens attentively, desperate to learn the game.

The moment takes me back.

I’ve lost track of how many hours I spent hitting fly balls or throwing batting practice to my son. He fell in love with baseball when he was not much older than our young neighbor. My son spent hours out here, tossing baseballs up in the air and whacking them when I couldn’t toss or hit to him. There still are spots worn bare in our front lawn that mark where he stood when he hit and where I stood when I pitched to him – an unofficial batter’s box and pitcher’s mound.

We stopped doing that a few years ago when I tossed him a pitch that he hit with a crack. The ball flew over the street and landed atop a neighbor’s roof. A slightly lower trajectory would have put it through a large and lovely picture window.

It’s a cliché to wax rhapsodic about baseball, to lapse into lyricism about lessons passed from fathers to sons on fields of green.

The temptation is understandable.

I never played much baseball when I was young – a regret now – because summer swim practices conflicted with most Little League schedules. But I treasure the times I spent working with my son as he developed his skills.

The why of that can be found in the game’s nature. Because so much of it is about listening, observing and learning, baseball lends itself to close conversation – to teaching.

I tap a pop fly into the air. The neighbor boy runs under it, glove outstretched. The ball lands in the web, a clean catch.

He holds the ball in the air.

A huge grin splits his face.

He and my son slap gloves together in celebration.

Then my son walks the younger boy through what he did to make the catch, how he tracked the ball, how he squeezed it when it landed and secured the grab with both hands. It’s a lesson my son learned that he now shares.

I watch my son coach, and the other boy listens, with wonder in my heart. I marvel at the way some things endure even as everything around them changes.

A few years ago, I took my son and my father on a trip to see baseball in Cleveland, Ohio, where I was born. Before the Saturday game, we drove over to a working-class neighborhood where we’d lived when I was little more than a toddler.

The three of us played pitch and catch in the tiny little playground behind the small duplex where we lived long ago. As we tossed the ball back and forth, my dad, who was in his 80s, told his grandson about how, decades earlier, he used to throw in this same spot with me.

Dad said it made him feel good to see his grandson take such an interest in baseball.

The ball’s flight tracked the march of generations.

Grandfather to father to son/grandson – and then back again.

Now, my wife sits at a window chair in our kitchen and watches the three of us play. My son notices me smiling at her.

“You can go in and sit with Mom, Dad,” he says. “I can take over for you.”

Someday, he will.

Because that is the nature of things.

On this day, though, I watch while my son teaches a little boy some things he’s learned from and about a game he loves.

The grass grows. Clouds push across the sky. Time passes.

And that’s okay because I can’t think of any place I’d rather be.

FOOTNOTE: John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism, host of “No Limits” WFYI 90.1 Indianapolis and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

VANDERBURGH COUNTY FOOD INSPECTION REPORT

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Eagles are headed back to Super Regionals!

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University of Southern Indiana Softball is heading back to the NCAA Division II Midwest Super Regional for the second straight year thanks to a 2-1 win over No. 9 Grand Valley State University in the “if necessary” game of the NCAA II Midwest Region #1 Tournament Sunday afternoon.

The Screaming Eagles (34-23), who needed just one win on the day, fell to the Lakers, 5-3, in the first game.

USI will open up Super Regionals Thursday at 1:30 p.m. when it visits the University of Illinois Springfield at the Land of Lincoln Junior Olympic Softball Complex in Springfield, Illinois. The best-of-three series continues with game two Friday at noon, while the “if necessary” game is Friday at 2:30 p.m.

Game 1: #9 GVSU 5, USI 3 (Box Score)
A combined eight runs were scored in the second inning as GVSU scored five times in the top half of the inning to build a 5-0 lead before the Eagles answered with a three spot in the bottom half of the inning to cut into the early deficit.

GVSU (44-9) had five hits, including a solo home run and back-to-back run-scoring doubles to produce its offense in the second.

The Eagles took advantage of an infield single and two walks to set up junior second baseman Claire Johnson (Pittsboro, Indiana) for a two-out, three-run double that nearly went over the fence for a grand slam.

Despite the offensive outburst, both teams settled down on the defensive end to hold the opposing offenses in check throughout the final five frames. Junior pitcher Haylee Smith (Florence, Kentucky) came on in relief in the second frame and scattered three hits throughout 5 1/3 innings of work to keep the Lakers off the scoreboard.

Meanwhile, the Eagles got back-to-back hits to leadoff of the fifth inning, but GVSU junior pitcher Allison Lipovsky got back-to-back fly balls followed by a strikeout to retire the threat.

Sophomore pitcher Jennifer Leonhardt (Louisville, Kentucky) was charged with the loss after giving up five runs off four hits in 1 2/3 innings of work. Leonhardt (19-12) had a pair of strikeouts and walked one batter in the loss.

Game 2: USI 2, #9 GVSU 1 (Box Score)
Junior outfielder Caitlyn Bradley (Forest, Indiana) hit a two-out double off the top of the fence in the top half of the fourth inning to give USI a 2-0 lead and Smith navigated her way to a complete-game victory in the circle as USI was triumphant in the “if necessary” game.

Bradley’s double looked like a three-run home run, but it somehow bounced back into the outfield as USI had to settle for two runs.

Smith (6-5) remained in the circle to pitch the beginning of the game and was so affective in keeping the Lakers’ hitters off balance, USI Head Coach Sue Kunkle opted to leave her in for the duration.

GVSU threatened throughout the contest, including the second inning when senior outfielder Olivia Clark-Kittleson (Carbondale, Illinois) threw out a runner at home plate. The Lakers, who had runners on base in each of the first six innings, loaded the bases in the fourth inning but could not break through.

After the Lakers put a run across in the fifth frame to cut USI’s advantage in half, GVSU had the leadoff runner on board in the sixth inning only to hit into a double play. Two batters later, with a runner at first base, USI junior outfielder Allison Schubert (Nicholasville, Kentucky) made an over the shoulder grab at the warning track in right field to keep the Lakers off the scoreboard.

Smith, who allowed just one run off nine hits and three walks, retired the Lakers in order in the seventh to complete the victory and bring the Eagles to within two wins of their second consecutive trip to the NCAA II Softball Championship.

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