Diamond Avenue Crash Kills One, Seriously Injures Another
- On Tuesday, January 03, 2017 at approximately 1:41pm the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office responded to the area of Diamond Avenue and St. Joseph Avenue upon report of a crash involving two motor vehicles
On scene investigation and witness statements indicated that a black GMC pick-up truck had been traveling west on Diamond Avenue before crossing into the eastbound lane of travel. The pick-up truck then collided with a black Chevrolet SUV that was traveling east on Diamond Avenue.
The driver of the SUV died at the scene of the crash. The driver of the pick-up truck was severely injured and transported to an emergency room for immediate medical care after Evansville Fire Department firefighters extricated him from his vehicle. The name of the deceased will be released by the Vanderburgh County Coroner’s Office.
Pursuant to state law regarding crashes involving serious bodily injury or death, the driver of the pick-up consented to a post-accident blood draw. The Coroner’s Office will perform toxicology testing on the deceased. The investigation will remain open pending a full crash reconstruction and toxicology results.
INJURED:Â
Kevin Eugene Austin, 47, of Evansville.
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Pictured above: Crash scene on Diamond Avenue east of St. Joseph Avenue.
-END-
IS IT TRUE JANUARY 4, 2017
IS IT TRUE we hearing around 15 to 17 members of the EPD are seriously thinking about taking early retirement because of the obvious mistreatment toward them by the city is shameful? ,,,if this inforntion is correct we feel that this is shameful?
IS IT TRUE that the Ford Motor Company announced yesterday that the $16 Billion plant that was planned over the last couple of years for construction in Mexico has been cancelled?…instead Ford will spend $700 Million to expand a plant in Michigan and will hire 700 American workers to meet their needs?…Ford will reportedly be hiring United Auto Workers to fill these jobs prompting UAW Vice President Jimmy Settles to state that “It’s evident today that Ford is rewarding us for our hard work.”?…there is no evidence to suggest that President Elect Donald Trump was involved in Ford’s decision to scuttle the Mexico plant and invest in the United States of America, but one would be naive to conclude that the looming tariffs spoken of by Mr Trump and the general disapproval of offshoring of American jobs did not have some influence in this decision?…this makes the second time that the fear of Mr. Trump’s reaction to an offshoring action has resulted in keeping a block of good paying jobs right here at home?
IS IT TRUE that a 15 year old boy was found dead on the campus of Evansville’s Central High School yesterday?…this young man was a former student who had voluntarily withdrawn from Central High only a short time ago?…the details surrounding this unfortunate situation are scarce at this time but the CCO understands that the other students at Central will be in need of mentoring, counseling, and goodwill for a long time to come to deal with the loss of their classmate?…it makes one wonder just how the heck a 15 year old can just quit school when most laws do not allow such a decision to be acted upon until after one has passed their 16th birthday?…our thoughts and prayers go out to the memory of this young man, his family, and the entire Central High School family?
IS IT TRUE the anticipation for the opening of the downtown Doubletree Hotel is peaking?…from the outside it looks nearly complete?…it has been a full 100 months (over 3,000 days) since the former Mayor of Evansville proclaimed that a Marriott would be built with NO PUBLIC INCENTIVE if and only if a new state of the art arena were built in downtown Evansville?…that was one delusional expectation but lots of people got on board in believing in the delusion?…it is truly going to be a day to celebrate when the first tourists check into the new Doubletree Hotel that cost way more than anticipated and took more TAXPAYER INCENTIVES that anyone every dreamed back in 2008 when the dreams were being hatched?
IS IT TRUE that the staff of the City County Observer is puzzled about how much of a difference there is in the quality of the roads in rural Illinois when contrasted with Kentucky but especially with the roads in Vanderburgh County and the City of Evansville?…there are potholes that need to be filled and we encourage our city and county officials to get behind making that happen this spring when the weather is more cooperative?
Assessor Waived Objection To Untimely Filing Of Record
Assessor waived objection to untimely filing of record
Jennifer Nelson
The Indiana Tax Court on Friday determined that a northern Indiana assessor’s office waived its objection to a late-filed certified administrative record in a tax appeal, ruling that an objection must be made before the merits of a case have been furthered.
Lake County Trust Co., Trust No. 6 (Flowers for Heaven Inc.) initiated an original tax appeal challenging a final determination of the Indiana Board of Tax Review. The board notified the trust by letter on May 6, 2016, that the certified administrative record was complete. But the trust did not file the administrative record until Sept. 13, after it filed its brief on the merits on Sept. 1 and after the assessor’s Sept. 7 motion to dismiss.
The trust failed to timely file the certified administrative record, so the assessor argued that the appeal should be dismissed. But the Tax Court on Friday determined that the assessor’s motion raising its objection was not timely.
The assessor maintained it was, citing Indiana Trial Rule 12(B), because it filed the motion within 20 days after the trust filed its brief. But the assessor’s motion was made after the trust filed its brief on the merits, and a brief is not a pleading, so Ind. Tr. Rule 12(B) does not “shelter the Assessor’s objection from waiver,†Judge Martha Wentworth wrote.
She cited the Indiana Supreme Court’s findings that an objection to an untimely filing of the record can be waived if not raised at the “appropriate time.†Although the court did not provide a bright-line rule, it did say that an objection must be made at the “earliest opportunity.â€
Wentworth found this to mean that the “earliest opportunity†to object must precede the furtherance of the merits.
“Accordingly, the Court finds that an objection to the untimely filing of the certified administrative record in an appeal from a final determination of the Indiana Board must itself be filed before the merits of a case have been furthered. Here, the Assessor filed its Motion after the Trust filed its brief; at that point, however, the merits of the case had already been furthered. Consequently, the Assessor waived its objection to the Trust’s untimely filing of the certified administrative record,†Wentworth wrote in Lake County Trust Co., Trust No. 6, (Flowers for Heaven, Inc.) v. St. Joseph County Assessor, 02T10-1604-TA-10.
Notice of Ivy Tech Executive Session and Meeting
OFFICIAL NOTICE OF MEETING
IVY TECH COMMUNITY COLLEGE SOUTHWEST
REGIONAL BOARD OF TRUSTEES
 Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017 3:00 p.m.
 Executive Session—(private meeting) The Regional Board of Trustees will meet in Executive Session, at Ivy Tech Community College, Hilliard Lyons Boardroom, 3501 N. First Avenue, Evansville, IN, as permitted under IC 5-14-1.5-6.1 (b) to discuss some of or all the subjects listed below. For each subject, a reference to the applicable subdivision of IC 5-14-1.5-6.1 (b) and a description of that subject are included.
(2) For discussion of strategy with respect to any of the following:
(D) The purchase or lease of real property by the governing body up to the time a contract or option to purchase or lease is executed by the parties.
(E) School consolidation
(3) The assessment, design and compensation of school safety and security measures, plans and system.
(7) For discussion of records classified as confidential by state or federal statute.
(9) To discuss job performance evaluations of individuals employees. This subdivision does not apply to a discussion of the salary, compensation, or benefits of employees during a budget process.
(11) To train board members with an outside consultant about the performance of the roles of members as public officials. 4:00 p.m.
 Regional Board of Trustees meeting (open to public).
                                          The Regional Board of Trustees will hold a regular meeting in the Hilliard Lyons Boardroom, 3501 N. First Avenue, Evansville, IN, to consider and take action on such items as may be brought before them.
Public Law Monitor by Joshua Claybourn
| Carmel council escalates fight with clerk-treasurerThe Indianapolis Star has an in-depth story on the escalating tension between the Carmel City Council and Clerk-Treasurer Christine Pauley. The Council is considering an ordinance that would allow its president to remove Pauley from the dais where council members sit and skip her when asking for comments from most other elected officials during the meetings. The proposals are the latest in a mounting series of contentious disagreements between the Council and clerk-treasurer that have included fights over her office’s budget, her salary, her time spent out of the office and the threat of a lawsuit. | ||
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| Indiana General Assembly session begins
The Indiana Senate will convene today for the 2017 session, and the Indiana House will convene tomorrow. Both bodies will address the state’s next two-year budget. Lawmakers are also expected to craft a plan, and a possible tax increase, that will fund road improvements and infrastructure projects into the future. To fund the proposals legislative leaders have floated ideas ranging from an increase in the gas tax, hiking vehicle registration costs, and increasing tobacco taxes. |
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| Indy approves tax break for Cummins
Cummins will receive a 10-year tax break from the city of Indianapolis on $2.1 million in tech equipment for the firm’s soon-to-be-completed downtown office building, where the company plans to employ about 250 workers by next month. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Development Commission approved a 10-year tax abatement on personal property taxes for the $2.1 million in IT equipment Cummins plans for the new facility. Over the 10 years, Cummins stands to save about $155,755. The company will still pay an estimated $66,751 in personal property taxes related to the new equipment. Once the abatement expires, Cummins will pay an estimated $19,072 annually in personal property taxes related to the new equipment. |
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| Evansville assesses land bank
The Evansville Courier & Press reviews the city of Evansville’s efforts in 2016 to reduce blight. The City demolished 170 homes, including about 92 by the Evansville Land Bank which formed in 2016. Demolished homes are banked until the city can find a development company to grow the city’s housing stock. Evansville was one of the first Indiana cities to make use of new state land bank legislation. |
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RV Manufacturer Expanding Across Three Facilities in LaGrange County
Forest River expands as RV industry reaches record shipments in 2016
Forest River, a full-line manufacturer of recreational and commercial vehicles, announced plans today to expand its operations to LaGrange, creating up to 425 new jobs by 2019 and marking another milestone for Indiana’s RV industry, which produces 80 percent of the world’s RVs.
“If you see an RV on the road, chances are it was built in Indiana,†said Governor Mike Pence. “As a national leader in manufacturing, Hoosiers’ hard work and innovations have built Indiana into the world’s choice location for designing and building RVs. Our state’s skilled workforce, excellent business climate and strong quality of life promise to continue to attract and grow top-tier companies like Forest River in the years ahead here in a state that works for business.â€
The Elkhart-based company, which also operates Indiana facilities in Goshen, Millersburg, Topeka, Middlebury and Wakarusa, will invest $6.7 million to establish operations in LaGrange, purchasing four existing facilities which cover 450,000 square feet over 100 acres. Renovations are currently underway on three of the facilities, which have sat vacant for more than eight years, and the company plans to evaluate options for the fourth facility late this year. Operations are slated to begin in one facility by mid-January and two more by May 2017, allowing the company to expand production of its Cherokee line of fifth wheel and travel trailers, which is currently backlogged. With this growth, Forest River’s footprint is expanding to cover 12 million square feet across its facilities nationwide.
Today’s announcement follows Forest River’s continued growth across northern Indiana. In 2014, the company made plans to expand its operations in Elkhart County, opening a new production facility in Bristol and equipping three facilities in Goshen. As part of this growth, the company planned to create a total of 185 new jobs. The company has since exceeded that goal, and currently employs 11,000 Hoosiers. Forest River plans to begin hiring this month in LaGrange for positions across the company, which on average are expected to offer wages above the LaGrange County average wage. Interested applicants may apply online at www.forestriverinc.com.
“As a company that manufactures RVs across the nation, we considered many options before we decided to expand production into LaGrange,” said Mike Stump, director of public relations at Forest River. “As home to the RV Capital of the World, Indiana offers the business climate and skilled labor force we need to to quickly increase production of the Cherokee line to meet rising demand. At Forest River, we’re proud to be headquartered in the home of RVs and even more excited for our future of growth here in Indiana.”
Forest River’s growth comes as demand for RVs continues to climb. As home to the RV Capital of the World, Indiana helped the industry make 397,721 RV shipments in 2016 through the end of November, which is an increase of nearly 15 percent over the same time period in 2015. RV shipments hit their highest level since 1977 in 2016, with shipments projected to rise to top 438,000 in 2017.
Founded in 1996, Forest River is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and one of the largest RV manufactures in the United States. Producing travel trailers, fifth wheels, pop-up tent campers, park model trailers, destination trailers, cargo trailers, commercial vehicles, buses, pontoons, restroom trailers and mobile offices, the company is the largest shuttle bus manufacturer and second largest RV manufacturer in the nation as measured by production. Forest River has grown to occupy 37 percent market share of the RV industry’s total sales.
“Forest River coming to LaGrange is a huge win for the town,†said Mark Eagleson, LaGrange town manager. “It will bring quality high-paying jobs, increased business for our retailers and hopefully stimulate housing growth. It is clearly the largest economic growth the town has seen in at least 20 years.â€
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Forest River Manufacturing LLC up to $2,500,000 in conditional tax credits based on the company’s job creations plans. These incentives are performance-based, meaning until Hoosiers are hired, the company is not eligible to claim incentives. The town of LaGrange will consider additional incentives at the request of the LaGrange County Economic Development Corporation.
Adopt A Pet
 Machito is a 4-month-old male brown tabby kitten. He’s pictured here with his sister, Melita. They love each other and would be fine in a home separate or together! Adopt one for $50, or take both for $100. Regardless, adoption fees include spay/neuter, vaccines & deworming, microchip, and more! Contact the Vanderburgh Humane Society at (812) 426-2563 or www.vhslifesaver.org for adoption details!  [The photo “M&M better†is for Machito.]
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