In December 1937, White Swan Laundry hired Santa to tout its delivery service as “a Christmas gift for her.†At four cents per pound of laundry, the weekly service was a time-saving bargain for busy housewives throughout the year. The company, located at NW Second and Ingle streets, was founded in 1893, one of the first professional steam laundries to open in Evansville. White Swan soon boasted over 100 employees and 17 motor routes, eventually expanding its services to customers in Henderson, Kentucky. The laundry was sold in 1980, and the building was razed in 1996. At the bottom of the picture, the shadow of photographer Edgar W. Newman can be seen; his series of Santa shots, taken at different venues in the city, appeared in the Evansville Press that December.
Obituary for Veronica (Marikian) Wedding
Veronica Wedding, 83, of Evansville, passed away on Friday, December 1, 2017 at The Protestant Home. She was born September 19, 1934 in Los Angeles, CA to the late Alex and Alice Marikian.
Veronica “Ronnie” met her husband, Robert “Bob”, in California while he was stationed in the United States Navy during the Korean War. They were married nearly 62 years. After her children were in school, Ronnie worked in the school cafeterias of Holy Spirit, and St. Benedict grade schools and Memorial High School. She was a long-time member of Holy Spirit Catholic Church. Ronnie enjoyed reading, watching TV and playing bunko with her friends. She was a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.
Veronica was preceded in death by her husband, parents, brother, Karol, and sisters, Catherine, Lucy and Mary.
Veronica is survived by her sons, Greg (Connie), Tom (Brenda) and Dave Wedding; by her daughter, Yvonne McIntire (Brett) all of Evansville, IN; grandchildren, Lisa, Jaron (Katie), Houston (Anastasiia), Tristin, Lindsey (Chad), Hailey (Billy), Adam, Lauren, Dana, Kayla, Brittany, Lacey and Nicole; great-grandchildren, Jake, Addie, Mason and Easton.
Visitation will be from 2 pm until 8 pm on Monday, December 4, 2017 at Browning Funeral Home, 738 Diamond Ave., Evansville, IN 47711.
A funeral service will be held at 9 am on Tuesday, December 5, 2017 at Browning Funeral Home with Father Tom Kessler officiating. Burial will follow at St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry, 809 N. Lafayette Ave., Evansville, IN 47711.
The family thanks the wonderful staff at The Protestant Home and Kindred Hospice who cared for her during her last days.
Condolences may be made online at www.browningfuneral.com.
To send flowers or a remembrance gift to the family of Veronica (Marikian) Wedding, please visit ourTribute Store.
Eagles land two during early signing period
Winders, the younger brother of USI All-American Javan Winders, is currently a senior at Henry County High School in Paris, Tennessee, where he recently qualified for Foot Locker Nationals with his sixth-place finish at the South Regional in Charlotte, North Carolina.
A combined five-time All-State honoree in cross country and track, Winders will be one of 40 high school runners from across the nation to compete at Foot Locker Nationals, which are this Saturday in San Diego, California.
Qualifying for Foot Locker Nationals capped off a tremendous month for the 2017 All-Mid-State Runner of the Year as Winders won the Tennessee Division I Large School state championship. He brings a personal-best 5k time of 15:06 to USI.
“Titus has an incredible resume at the high school level,” Hillyard said. “The things that excite me about Titus, however, are the intangibles that separate athletes with a great history from those with a great future. He is grounded, humble, fearless, a hard worker and has a team-first mentality. His ceiling is pretty high.”
Barker is currently a senior at Boonville High School where she was a three-time state qualifier on the cross country course as well as a three-time state qualifier on the track.
In cross country, Barker recorded her best finish at the IHSAA state meet as a junior when she finished 58th. On the track, Barker helped BHS to a pair of top-20 finishes in the 4×800-meter relay at the IHSAA Championships and was 25th in the 1,600 meters as a sophomore in 2016.
“Haley hasn’t scratched the surface of her potential yet,” Hillyard explained. “Once she gets settled into a training environment where the norm is a completely different level, she will rise to meet that challenge. First and foremost, Haley loves to compete. I expect her to make an impact quickly here.”
USI opens the 2017-18 track & field season Friday when it competes at the UIndy Winter Break Meet in Indianapolis.
Sheriff’s Deputies work annual Santa Clothes Club Telethon
Sheriff Dave Wedding along with deputies and confinement officers from the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office manned the phone bank tonight at the annual Santa Clothes Club Telethon held at Washington Square Mall.
Sheriff Wedding presented Santa Clothes Club with a check for over $13,000 at tonight’s event. Sheriff Wedding explained, “This donation was possible thanks to generous support from Father Chris Forler and the parishioners of Saint John the Evangelist Catholic Church, Councilman James Raben, 911 Gives Hope, the West Side Nut Club, and Pure International Teen Miss America Ashley Clark of Mater Dei High School.”
Last year, proceeds from the telethon clothed over 2,500 tri-state children. If you missed the telethon, you can still make a donation by clicking here.
Pictured above: Sheriff Dave Wedding and Teen Miss America Ashley Clark.
The Holcomb’s Public Schedule for December 4 through December 7
Holcomb Public Schedule for December 4 through December 7
INDIANAPOLIS – Below find Indiana Governor Eric J. Holcomb and First Lady Janet Holcomb’s public schedules for December 4 through December 7, 2017.
Monday, December 4, 2017: Hoosier Holidays at the Statehouse
WHO: First Lady Janet Holcomb
WHAT: Students will join the First Lady to decorate the Christmas trees at the Statehouse.
WHEN: 11:30 a.m., Monday, Dec. 4, Indiana Statehouse, 200 W. Washington St, Indianapolis, IN 46204
Tuesday, December 5, 2017: Hour of Code at the Indiana Statehouse
WHAT: The Governor will speak to hundreds of students and educators about the importance of computer science. He will also join the students and participate in a coding activity.
WHEN: 10 a.m., Tuesday, Dec. 5, Indiana Statehouse,  200 W. Washington St., Indianapolis, IN 46204
Thursday, December 7, 2017: Launch(ed) Women in Technology: Networking + Panel Discussion
WHO: First Lady Janet Holcomb
WHAT: The First Lady will give opening remarks and participate in a panel regarding entrepreneurial and technical skills.
WHEN: 6 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 7
WHERE:  Launch Fishers, 12175 Visionary Way, Fishers, IN 46038
IS IT TRUE DECEMBER 4, 2017
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?â€
IS IT TRUEÂ long before the $18 million dollars North Main Street renovation project was completed, we publicly stated that the design plans of the North Main Street project were too narrow for vehicle traffic? …city officials ignored us and finished the project without correcting this obvious mistake? …please look at the cover page picture of this column and you will see what the city engineer came up with to stop cars from running over the newly installed concrete street and sidewalk bolder when they turn on the narrow North Main Street? …he put unsightly white poles on certain sections of the newly completed $18 million dollars North Main project? Â …if this design mistake happened in the private sector someone would have been fired on the spot?
IS IT TRUE that the IGA store on North Main has advised its workforce that the store will be closing right after the first of the year? …this store is owned by The Houchens Food Group, the company says high theft, and low sales at Buehler’s IGA are the reason for the closing? …of course the powers that be would prefer that this news is not shared with anyone this soon after they spent $18 million making this part of town bicycle friendly with undersized lanes for vehicle traffic?
IS IT TRUE we’ve been told that Mayor Winnecke is quietly raising money to build an expensive “Exotic Bird” exhibit to be located next to the new Carrousel at the Zoo? …Its been alleged that the Mayor got a grant and raised money from generous donators to pay for this project? Â …we hope that City Council put extra money in the 2018 Zoo budget to pay for the daily upkeep of this exhibit?
IS IT TRUE that the official “Swim Meet Time Clock” located at the Northside Lloyd Pool has been broken for over a year? Â …the only way that coaches and parents can record the official swimmers times is by hand held time clocks? Â …this situation needs to be corrected right away?
IS IT TRUE according to the Evansville Courier & Press’s their East Walnut Street building is under contract to be sold? …that the sale of their East Walnut Street building is expected to close this month?  …the Courier and Press plans to remain as a tenant in the building?  …we hope that the Courier and Press move to downsize will allow them to produce a better product and become more profitable?
IS IT TRUE that the 420 Building that was at one time the headquarters for Old National Bank was in escrow, for a while with plans to do $25 million of much needed improvements if and only if financing could be arranged? …we all learned earlier this week that the financing could not be arranged and the 420 Building is now back on the market for $5 million like it has been for over a decade? …to borrow $30 million to purchase and refurbish that building would require an appraisal of at least $40 million and unfortunately given the comps in downtown Evansville that is not even close to something that is possible? …the highest potential appraisal for the 420 Building given it’s square footage is on the order of $15 million and that is a stretch? …given that the building legitimately needs $25 million of improvements to be converted into class A commercial space, we are in for a long long wait for this building to be refurbished unless a person comes along who doesn’t need a loan and doesn’t care about a return on investment?
IS IT TRUE that long time School Board member Mike Duckworth is considering announcing as a candidate for the Vanderburgh County Commission sometime in January, 2018?
IS IT TRUE that former Vanderburgh County Republican party Chairman Jeff Hatfield decided not to run for the District II County Commission seat as a Democrat?
IS IT TRUE that Vanderburgh County Democratic party Chairman Scott Dank’s have been quietly working on getting an impressive group of individuals to run for Evansville City Council in the next city election? Â …we hear that Chairman Dank’s may be getting some positive results in his search?
IS IT TRUEÂ in a recent article written by the Evansville Courier and Press writer Jon Webb brought up the decade long stagnation of wages in Evansville that grew by only 1/3 of the national average during the last ten years, the rising utility costs and the general sclerotic pace of change in the race to the bottom?…for the record, the average wage in Evansville has declined from roughly 10% above national averages 50 years ago to about half what that wage is today?…that is losing by a factor of 4?…that Evansville is not even keeping up with Indiana and has atrophied to the point that an Evansville job pays 33% less than jobs in the rest of Indiana?…we are on the verge of being a third world city with a $127 Million hockey rink that can’t pay its own bills?…the governance that has created this situation has had a “band plays on” attitude with nothing but borrowing money for fun and games projects?…from an economic development perspective this area has never met a call center, retail chain, or low skills job it didn’t fall in love with and that is what is driving the race to the bottom?
IS IT TRUE the Evansville Sports Corporation recently held a Division II basketball tournament at the Ford Center and the attendance was not up to snuff? …all we can say is thank goodness that the Evansville Sports Corporation had several major corporate sponsors to cover all the expenses for this failed sporting event?  …we hope that the newly hired CEO of the Evansville Sports Corporation will do extensive homework before allowing his organization to bring another less than financial successful event to the Ford Center?
Todays “Readers Poll” question is: Do you feel that the City Engineer should be held responsible for allowing the narrow North Main Street project to be finished without correcting the obvious design problem?
Please take time and read our articles entitled “STATEHOUSE Files, CHANNEL 44 NEWS, LAW ENFORCEMENT, READERS POLL, BIRTHDAYS, HOT JOBS†and “LOCAL SPORTSâ€.  You now are able to subscribe to get the CCO daily.
EDITOR’S FOOTNOTE:  Any comments posted in this column do not represent the views or opinions of the City County Observer or our advertisers
Commentary: Flynn And The Force Trump Can’t Resist
By John Krull
TheStatehouseFile.comÂ
INDIANAPOLIS – This is how a dam crumbles. A crack widens to a hole, which then becomes a break and then the accumulating pressure brings the whole thing down.
John Krull, publisher, TheStatehouseFile.com
This seems to be what’s happening within President Donald Trump’s White House now.
The steady, unrelenting pressure brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of the ties of the Trump campaign and administration ties with Russia already has produced several cracks – the Paul Manafort indictment, the George Papadopoulos plea bargain – in the president’s stonewall.
But the negotiated guilty plea of lying to the FBI by former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn means at least one crack has widened into a hole and maybe even a break.
Flynn was in serious trouble. Mueller had many avenues to prosecute Flynn, several of which could have led to serious prison time for both Flynn and his family. The plea bargain on the smallest of the charges facing Flynn in exchange for cooperating with the special counsel means Flynn likely won’t spend any time behind bars and his family will be left alone.
The only way Flynn could have wiggled out from under that weight was by trading something – something big.
About the only thing he had to offer that Mueller might want is the president himself.
Perhaps this explains the president’s erratic behavior since word first broke that Flynn’s defense team had stopped cooperating with the White House’s lawyers.
Trump’s attorneys have done their best to minimize the impact of that development. After months of praising and defending Flynn, they have pivoted and said the guilty plea for lying demonstrates he can’t be trusted – an obvious attempt to try to discredit damaging testimony from the man before he even delivers it.
That is what lawyers are supposed to do. They’re supposed to protect their client.
What they cannot do is protect Trump from himself.
The news that Flynn had flipped seemed to unhinge the president.
Since it first broke, he’s waded, unnecessarily, into the quagmire enveloping former NBC “Today†host Matt Lauer’s alleged sexual misconduct – and thus renewed calls that the accusations Trump has harassed and assaulted women be investigated. He’s suggested that the infamous “Access Hollywood†tape isn’t real – even though he acknowledged it and apologized for it just a year ago. And he has tried to raise again the thoroughly discredited claim that former President Barack Obama isn’t an American citizen.
If all that weren’t enough, he also has gone out of his way to undercut and embarrass his secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, while the United States attempts to deal with a potential nuclear threat in North Korea.
The president’s actions are those of a man who is unbalanced.
Or desperate.
This president’s pattern when he is under assault or stress is unvarying. He tries to find a way to go on the counter-attack, either by demeaning or discrediting his opponents or critics. If he can’t do that, Trump creates one diversion or conjures up one smoke screen after another to distract people from what’s going on.
He does this because it is the only way he knows to meet a challenge.
But it isn’t likely to work in this situation.
Robert Mueller is everything Donald Trump is not – disciplined rather than impulsive, self-contained instead of needy, and determined rather than self-pitying.
Some months ago, I talked with Peter Rusthoven, former associate counsel to President Ronald Reagan, a onetime Republican U.S. Senate candidate and a veteran of some savage Washington wars.
Rusthoven said the intelligence and the investigatory communities in the federal government were the two forces that savvy political figures never wanted to alienate – and that Trump had angered them both. Rusthoven predicted the president would learn this lesson to his regret, because both communities moved like powerful rivers, always forward, with a drive that just never lets up.
That’s another way of saying that the dam protecting the president is under immense pressure and about to crumble.
That’s when Donald Trump’s real education will begin.
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.
