EDITORS FOOTNOTES: Â If you would like to advertise or submit and article in the CCO please contact us City-County Observer@live.com .
Any comments posted in this column doesn’t represents the views or opinions of our advertisers.
IS IT TRUE JUNE 26, 2017
IS IT TRUE that Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke recently announced that he plans to seek a third term as your mayor in the 2019 election?…that is 29 months away but it does give Winnecke a long time to raise money to fend off any challengers who decide to toss their hat into the ring?…in his two campaigns for mayor, Winnecke has proven to be able to raise over a million dollars for an office that only pays around $100,000 per year?…with the apparent popularity that Winnecke enjoys and over a million bucks in his war chest, it will be one formidable task to defeat Winnecke in a general election?…we must all remember however that in 2009 former Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel was routinely referred to as a rock star and thought to be on a path to become Governor of Indiana?…one local luminary, Larry Aitken actually said on camera that Weinzapfel should be President of the United States?…two years later after the Ford Center was shoved down the taxpayer’s throats without a referendum, a promised hotel without subsidy failed to materialize, and the McCurdy fiasco began, Homestead Tax credit grab, Weinzapfel chased from his own primary by the late great Rick Davis?…Mayor Winnecke would be we’ll served to avoid becoming a little dictator because real people do not like hubris?
IS IT TRUE that two people have already sort of floated challenging Winnecke?…one is the always controversial and embattled bad boy City Councilman at large Jonathan Weaver?…we are not sure whether the registered Democrat Weaver who never saw a Winnecke initiative that he didn’t love will run as the Republican he votes like or as the Democrat that he claims to be?…what we do know is that Weaver does have a broad base of support that has kept him on the City Council despite a boat load of personality issues from throwing tantrums to having restraining orders issued against him?…an oversized ego seems to propel Weaver through life no matter how his personality tries to commit political suicide?…Weaver’s popularity in certain circles is a real enigma but it may well put him into the 3rd floor corner office of the Civic Center if Winnecke trips up and creates an opening for him?
IS IT TRUE that the other person who is not willing to rule out a run for Mayor of Evansville is Vanderburgh County Commissioner Cheryl Musgrave?…Musgrave has also served as the County Assessor and more importantly as Indiana’s top official for Local Government Finance?…Musgrave has been a visible member of the Republican Party but has also shown a tendency toward supporting progressive actions?…she is not and has never been owned by any political machine of any particular flavor and seems to be be holding to no one other than the taxpayers?…Winnecke and Musgrave have often worked together to move things forward but separate along the line where rationality meets irrational belief in fun and games?…Winnecke is a long time registered Republican who spends money like a Chicago Democrat on fun and games projects and public relations like there is no tomorrow?…Musgrave may run as a Republican in a primary challenge to Winnecke or she may even consider running as an independent which is where her reality really is?…any race that has Winnecke vs. Musgrave will become a choice of fluff vs. substance and it will be interesting to see who Evansille would choose?
IS IT TRUE there is the possibility of a three way campaign with Winnecke as the Republican nominee, Weaver as the Democrat nominee, and Musgrave as an Independent?…this would shake out as a race between a polished PR guy with an addiction to fun and games, a bad boy former weather guy with a big ego, and a woman of intellect and substance who is owned by no one?…another way to describe this is a Republican who acts like a Democrat vs. a Democrat who sucks up to a Republican vs. a woman who sees through the partisan personal nonsense and do what is right?…it is going to be an interesting 29 months?
IS IT TRUE that the 500 pound gorilla concerning the future Evansville Mayoral race could be none other than Vanderburgh County Commissioner Ben Shoulders or Vanderburgh County Councilmen Mike Goebel?  …both gentlemen are well educated, personable, well spoken and are extremely entrenched in Vanderburgh County politics?  …both individuals have the whereabouts to launch a formable campaign for Mayor of Evansville?
IS IT TRUE at tonights City Council meeting the Evansville Metropolitan Development Director Kelley Coures wii be talking about the “uniform conflict of interest and disclosure statement”?  …we also hope that he will bring up the subjects of political patronage, influence peddling, government wasteful spending and pork barrel politics?
IS IT TRUE we also hope that the Evansville Metropolitan Development Director Kelley Coures will also give City Council an update concerning what it will cost the taxpayers to correct the design mistake on the North main street project?  …we also hope he will tell us would will pay to correct this expensive problem?
IS IT TRUE that Kristin Comer an employee of the Vanderburgh County Commission office is a delight to work with? Â …she is extremely knowledgeable about governmental issues, professional and polite?
IS IT TRUE we hear that 2nd Ward City Councilwoman Missy Mosby will be hamming it up at tonights Council meeting? Â …Ms Mosby will be attempting to get City Councils approval for a “pot belly pig” ordinance that will allow pigs to live in the Evansville City limits? Â …that Missy Mosby has given a new meaning to “pork barrel” politics?
Todays “READERS POLL†question is: If the election were held today for Republican nomination for Mayor of Evansville who would you vote for?
7th Circuit: Colts Not Required To Renew Season Tickets
7th Circuit: Colts Not Required To Renew Season Tickets
Olivia Covington for www.theindianalawyer.com
An Indianapolis Colts season tickets holder did not automatically have the right to transfer ownership of his tickets from one season to the next, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday in a diversity suit against the professional football team.
In the case of Yehuda Frager v. Indianapolis Colts, Inc., 16-4183, ticket broker Yehuda Frager had purchased 94 season tickets in 2015, pursuant to a deal that allowed season ticket holders to transfer their ticket rights upon payment of a fee equal to 30 percent of the sale price. However, when Frager requested to transfer the rights to tickets for the 2016 season, the Colts denied him, prompting the instant suit.
Frager claims the football team converted the tickets and that he is, thus, entitled to reimbursement. But Judge William T. Lawrence of the U.S. District Court for the Southern Indiana disagreed, dismissing Frager’s case last November.
In the Colts’ contract with season ticket purchasers, there is a clause that states “the Colts reserve the right…to reject any order, transfer, or renewal.†Though there may have been an expectation that he could renew his 2015 season tickets in 2016, 7th Circuit Judge Richard Posner wrote Thursday that Frager and other ticket holders have no right to future season tickets unless the Colts sold them that right, a possibility foreclosed by the language of the ticket contract.
To demonstrate the 7th Circuit’s logic, Posner pointed to a 20th century opinion from then-Chief Judge of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Emery v. Boston Terminal Co., 59 N.E. 763 (Mass. 1901). In that case, the plaintiffs had been tenants of a property obtained through eminent domain by the defendants. The lease had expired, and while the tenants believed the owners would renew it, Holmes said such a belief represented a “speculation on a chance, not a legal right.â€
“And so it is here,†Posner wrote. “Frager had a reasonable expectation that he’d be able to renew his season tickets for 2016. That purchasers of season tickets are willing to pay a 30 percent transfer fee in the online marketplace indicates that the expectation of renewal added to the salable value of season tickets, but given the words of hi contracts with the Colts, it was merely ‘a speculation on a change, not a legal right.’â€
City Council Meeting June 26, 2017
I. INTRODUCTION
II. APPROVAL OF MEETING MEMORANDA
III. REPORTS AND COMMUNICATIONS
IV. SPECIAL ORDERS OF THE DAY
V. CONSENT AGENDA: FIRST READING OF ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS
RESOLUTION C-2017-09
Sponsor(s): Discussion Led By: Notify:
RESOLUTION C-2017-10
Sponsor(s): Discussion Led By: Notify:
RESOLUTION C-2017-12
Sponsor(s): Discussion Led By: Notify:
A Resolution of the Common Council of the City of Evansville Confirming the Declaration of an Economic Revitalization Area for Property Tax Phase-In for the for Real Estate Improvements Located at 4814 Spring Street Evansville, IN 47711 (Spring Street Ventures, Haggard & Stocking Associates, Inc)
McGinn
Finance Chair McGinn 7/10/2017
Andrea Lendy, Growth Alliance
A Preliminary Resolution of the Common Council of the City of Evansville Declaring an Economic Revitalization Area for Tax Phase-In for Real Estate Improvements and Acquisition of Manufacturing Equipment Located at 1700 Lynch Road Evansville, IN 47711
McGinn
Finance Chair McGinn 7/10/2017
Andrea Lendy, Growth Alliance
A Resolution of the Common Council of the City of Evansville, Indiana Approving an Amendment to the Evansville Arts Redevelopment Allocation Area
Robinson
A.S.D. Chair Brinkmeyer 7/10/2017 Kelley Coures, DMD
RESOLUTION C-2017-13
Sponsor(s): Discussion Led By: Notify:
VI. COMMITTEE REPORTS
A Resolution of the Common Council of the City of Evansville, Indiana Approving a Declaratory Amendment of the Downtown Redevelopment Plan
Robinson
A.S.D. Chair Brinkmeyer 7/10/2017 Kelley Coures, DMD
VII. REGULAR AGENDA:
ORDINANCE G-2017-09
Sponsor(s): Discussion Led By: Notify:
ORDINANCE G-2017-10
Sponsor(s): Discussion Led By: Notify:
ORDINANCE G-2017-11
Sponsor(s): Discussion Led By: Notify:
ORDINANCE G-2017-12
Sponsor(s): Discussion Led By: Notify:
ORDINANCE G-2017-14
Sponsor(s): Discussion Led By: Notify:
SECOND READING OF ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS
An Ordinance Amending Section 13.05.280 (Rate Schedule) of the Code of Ordinances
Elpers
Public Works Chair Weaver 6/26/2017
Marco DeLucio, ZSWS
An Ordinance Amending Chapter 13.20 (Wastewater Discharge Regulations) of the Evansville Municipal Code
Elpers
Public Works Chair Weaver 6/26/2017
Marco DeLucio, ZSWS
An Ordinance Amending Chapter 8.20 (Fire Prevention) of the Code of Ordinances
Adams, Mercer
A.S.D. Chair Brinkmeyer 6/26/2017
Josh Claybourn, City Council Attorney
An Ordinance Amending Chapter 6.05 (Animal Control) of the Code of Ordinances
Mosby
A.S.D. Chair Brinkmeyer 6/26/2017
Josh Claybourn, City Council Attorney
An Ordinance Identifying an Area Needing Redevelopment
McGinn
Public Works Chair Weaver 6/26/2017 Nick Cirignano, ZSWS
ORDINANCE F-2017-08 AMENDED
Sponsor(s): Discussion Led By: Notify:
ORDINANCE F-2017-09 AMENDED
Sponsor(s): Discussion Led By: Notify:
RESOLUTION C-2017-08
Sponsor(s): Discussion Led By: Notify:
VIII. RESOLUTION DOCKET
RESOLUTION C-2017-11
Sponsor(s): Resolution Docket Notify:
An Ordinance of the Common Council of the City of Evansville Authorizing Transfers of Appropriations, Additional Appropriations and Repeal and Re-Appropriation of Funds for Various City Funds McGinn
Finance Chair McGinn 6/26/2017
Russ Lloyd, Jr., City Controller
An Ordinance of the Common Council of the City of Evansville Authorizing Repeal, Re-Appropriations within the Department of Metropolitan Development
McGinn
Finance Chair McGinn 6/26/2017 Kelley Coures, DMD
A Preliminary Resolution of the Common Council of the City of Evansville Declaring an Economic Revitalization Area for Property Tax Phase-In for Real Estate Improvements Located at 4814 Spring Street, Evansville, IN 47711 – Spring Street Ventures, Haggard & Stocking Associates, Inc.
McGinn
Finance Chair McGinn 6/26/2017
Andrea Lendy, Growth Alliance
A Resolution of the Common Council of the City of Evansville, Indiana, Authorizing the Sale of Property: 315 Taylor Avenue Mosby
6/26/2017 Capt. Stephanie Cox, Evansville Police Dept.
IX. MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS
- THE NEXT MEETING of the Common Council will be Monday, July 10, 2017 at 5:30p
- EVANSVILLE FIRE DEPARTMENT
- EVANSVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT
- DEPT. OF METROPOLITAN DEVELOPMENT, Kelley Coures, Executive Director:Uniform Conflict of Interest & Disclosure Statement regarding Memorial CommunityDevelopment Residential Lease with Option to Purchase
- ADDITIONAL MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS
X. COMMITTEEREPORTS
XI. ADJOURNMENT
AG Hill Warns Hoosiers Considering Timeshare MembershipsÂ
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INDIANAPOLIS – Attorney General Curtis Hill is advising individuals to act with caution and look for any false statements or hidden fees when signing up for timeshare memberships. With school out for the summer, many Hoosier families are planning summer vacations. Timeshare rentals are a common lodging option. However, Hill is asking Hoosiers to beware when signing up for timeshare memberships. Many Hoosiers will receive invitations to a free dinner at a hotel or restaurant with the catch that they listen to a presentation regarding timeshares. Following the presentation, they’re pressured to sign a contract on the spot, not allowing the appropriate amount of time to look over and think about the agreement. These contracts often have stipulations such as annual maintenance fees hidden deep in the contract that Hoosiers aren’t aware of because they didn’t have time to review the agreement due to the pressure to sign the contract on the spot. The Office of the Indiana Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division (CPD) encourages individuals to take time when considering signing a timeshare membership contract. The CPD suggests Hoosiers should wait for at least 24 hours before signing an agreement. Consumers should also be cautious of any ongoing fees associated with the membership, regardless of what the salesperson says. The CPD also wants consumers to know that they have a three-day right to cancel any timeshare membership contract. Hoosiers are encouraged to contact the Consumer Protection Division of the Office of the Indiana Attorney General if they have been scammed. You can reach the CPD by visiting IndianaConsumer.com or calling 1-800-382-5516. |
Governor Holcomb’s Schedule for June 26 – 30, 2017
INDIANAPOLIS – Below find Indiana Governor Eric J. Holcomb’s public schedule for Monday, June 26 through Friday, June 30, 2017.
Monday, June 26, 2017
What:Â Â Ceremonial Bill Signing for HEA 1004 on Early Childhood Education (Pre-K Expansion)
Who:Â Â Â Gov. Holcomb
Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jennifer McCormick
House Speaker Brian Bosma
State Rep. Bob Behning
When:Â 3:30 p.m. ET
Where: Governor’s Office
Indiana Statehouse
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
What:Â Â Ceremonial Bill Signing for HEA 1438, SEA 226, HEA 1540, HEA 1654 (Attacking the Drug Epidemic)
Who:Â Â Â Gov. Holcomb
State Sen. Jim Merritt
State Rep. Cindy Kirchhofer
State Rep. Cindy Ziemke
When:Â 10:30 a.m. ET
Where: Richmond State Hospital, Clinical Treatment Center
498 NW 18th Street
Richmond, IN 47374
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
What:Â Â Richmond Chamber of Commerce Lunch
When:Â 12 p.m. ET
Where: Forest Hills Country Club
2169 South 23rd Street
Richmond, IN 47374
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
What:Â Â BWI Groundbreaking
Host:Â Â Â Indiana Economic Development Corporation
When:Â 2:30 p.m. ET
Where: Â E. 300 N.
Greenfield, IN 46140
Note:   Media may park off to the side on the construction site, which is located at E 300 N [39.828303, -85.792949]. Â
Friday, June 30, 2017
What:  Governor’s Capital Campout with Indiana State Parks
Event supports Great Outdoors Month in Indiana.
Host:Â Â Â Indiana Department of Natural Resources
When  12 p.m. ET
Where: Millennium Grove Picnic Area at Fort Harrison State Park
5753 Glenn Road
Indianapolis, IN 46216
Indiana Crackdown On Opioids Sparks More Pharmacy Robberies
Indiana Crackdown On Opioids Sparks More Pharmacy Robberies
IL for www.theindianalawyer.com
As the nation’s opioid epidemic intensified, Indiana cracked down on over-prescribing doctors and “pill mills” catering to people with addictions. The state also took aim at doctor-shopping—the practice of visiting multiple physicians to score more painkillers.
While making opioid prescriptions harder to get, the crackdown also helped spur a twofold increase in robberies of pharmacies that exacerbated the state’s standing as No. 1 in the nation for those crimes. Between 2009 and 2016, Indiana had 651 pharmacy robberies—the most in the U.S. and more than the 597 recorded by No. 2 California, which has six times the population, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration records show.
The frequent holdups reflect a grim reality: With each regulation or law enforcement tactic, the opioid crisis quickly shape-shifts to evade new obstacles. Dealers and those struggling with addictions adapt, and the epidemic continues with little interruption.
“They’re always looking for wherever they can get their foothold. And once they do, they’re going to take advantage,” said Tom Prevoznik, a deputy chief of pharmaceutical investigations with the DEA in Arlington, Virginia.
Pharmacies and law enforcement agencies in Indianapolis, where most of the robberies have occurred, are fighting back. Pharmacy chains have installed time-release safes that won’t open for several minutes, forcing robbers to risk arrest by waiting. Signs so far are positive. Robberies in Indianapolis numbered only eight through early June, compared with 55 for all of 2016.
But some criminals responded to those efforts by traveling from Indianapolis to small suburban towns to rob pharmacies, including one in January in Elwood, about 40 miles from Indianapolis, where two robbers herded frantic employees into a bathroom after threatening them with a handgun.
Indiana’s economic makeup has made it a likely breeding ground for opioid addiction for years.
The 2008 financial crisis hit the state’s manufacturing economy hard, causing waves of layoffs. And physically demanding jobs in heavy industry have long left workers prone to injuries that could lead to prescriptions for painkillers.
“They get a legit medical prescription—and then all of a sudden it gets out of control,” said Jason Hockenberry, an Emory University professor of health policy who has studied opioid addiction. He said the state already had outsized opioid woes, related in part to its location along Interstates 65 and 70—two major corridors for illicit drugs.
Opioid addiction was behind the state’s worst-ever HIV outbreak, in 2015, an epidemic that infected more than 200 people in a rural county north of Louisville, Kentucky. Most had shared needles while injecting a prescription painkiller. That year, Indiana ranked 17th in the nation in heroin and prescription opioid overdose deaths, with 1,245 deaths per 100,000 people.
Four years ago, the Legislature directed the state’s Medical Licensing Board to draft rules requiring patients to visit their doctors periodically to keep getting prescription refills. The changes included requiring doctors to use an online database to check patients’ use of controlled substances.
But stemming easy access to opioids probably contributed to the binge of 168 robberies in 2015, more than twice the previous year’s total, as more people addicted to prescription opioids robbed stores seeking painkillers and other potent drugs, said Greg Zoeller, who was Indiana’s attorney general at the time.
The holdups—sometimes more than five a day in Indianapolis—flooded the black market with nearly 200,000 pills, primarily painkillers.
“We knew full well that if you reduce easy access, you’re going to have these kinds of consequences,” Zoeller said.
Lt. Craig McCartt, who oversees robbery investigations for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, said 85 percent of Indianapolis’ pharmacy robberies in 2015 were committed by juveniles enlisted by adult dealers offering cash and gifts to rob the stores.
Amid that crime spree, Indianapolis police teamed up with the DEA, FBI and federal prosecutors for a multi-agency approach that’s led to the indictments of 35 people, including six juveniles, in 62 of the robberies.
The state’s two largest drugstore operators, Walgreens and CVS, have also installed time-release safes at their roughly 180 Indianapolis pharmacies and added armed guards at some stores in recent years.
Indiana’s pharmacy robberies dropped to 78 in 2016, but the state still ranked second in the U.S., behind California. The latest effort targeting the robberies is a law taking effect in July that will lead to longer sentences for people who threaten violence or injure anyone during pharmacy robberies.
Ken Fagerman, a former South Bend pharmacist who wrote a book about the robberies, said the pharmacy industry should not have tolerated the heists for years and shares some blame.
“It’s regrettable that more wasn’t done sooner,” he said.
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