IS IT TRUE at todays Evansville Merit Commission meeting the board will schedule a disciplinary hearing concerning the fate of four EPD officers sometime after the new year? … we feel the four EPD officers have the right to tell their side of the story with legal counsel by their side? …this is a developing story?

IT TRUE we are hearing that another item on todays Merit Commission agenda has totally went under the radar of the main stream media  …this issue has to do with a 21 day suspension handed down to a EPD officer concerning the subject of an alleged suspension of his driving license?  …in the old days an aggressive investigative reporter would had been all over this story?

IS IT TRUE yesterday we read an Editorial in the local paper entitled “Vanderburgh Prosecutor Punts”? …we take issue with a comment written in this Editorial?  …the comment was; “in the court of credibility,  these officers and this prosecutor failed the public trust’? …we feel that this comment was out of bounds because we know that Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Nick Hermann has creditability and is an outstanding public servant?  …we urge other members of the local media allow the 4 EPD officers the opportunity to defend their creditability in the court of law without prejudice?  …we are extremely pleased with the way that our “First Responders” protects us on a daily basis?

IS IT TRUE its been alleged that during a recent sporting event at the Ford Center a locally elected public official had a negative encounter with his ex-wife?  …this negative encounter had to do with an alleged validation of a restraining order filed against him several years ago by his ex-wife? …we know that EPD and the Vanderburgh County Prosector office will investigate this issue without regards to the political standing of this public official?  …this is definitely a developing story?

IS IT TRUE at tonights Evansville City Council meeting the merits of appointing a Deputy Mayor will be discussed?  …If this ordinance passes, Mayor Winnecke’s Chief of Staff Steve Schaefer would automatically be declared the Deputy Mayor of Evansville, Ind?  …we wonder why people are making such a fuss concerning this issue since it’s a well known fact that Mr. Schaefer has been running the City on a day to day basis for years?

IS IT TRUE officials of the Vanderburgh County Health Department has scheduled a closed fact finding meeting with area elected and appointed officials to discuss the pros and cons of a syringe exchange program?  …during the old days the main stream media would had declared this proposed closed door meeting is in direct validation of the “open door or sunshine” law of Indiana?

IS IT TRUE during the last budget hearings the leadership of the City Council stated  the budget could not be increased?  …City Council can increase expenditures in the budget when it comes to public safety funding issues?

FOOTNOTE: Todays “Readers Poll” question;  Do you feel that our “First Responders” are doing a great job in protecting us on a daily basis?

TO SCAM A CARTOONIST

By Monte Wolverton

A couple of weeks ago I got an email from a woman who called herself, generically enough, Mary. She said she wanted to hire me to “make cartoony of” a portrait of her family, so she could give it to her husband for his birthday. She attached a photo of her husband, two kids and herself.  She also let me know that she was engaged in humanitarian work, shuttling between Nepal and Australia, helping earthquake victims. Commendable. Damn commendable.

Why not? I thought. I can squeeze it in. I quoted her a price—not cheap, but I have bills to pay, Mary’s humanitarianism notwithstanding. I followed my standard policy for people I don’t know (and some I do)—credit card only, half up front. She got right back to me and said she would be paying by check, and therefore needed my cell phone number. I got right back to her and said sorry—credit cards only and I don’t give out my cell phone number. I never heard back, and didn’t give it a second thought.

A day or two later I learned that a cartoonist friend had taken her assignment. He did the requested family portrait and received a check for the amount he had agreed upon—plus $4,000. He emailed her and she said no problem—she had miswritten the amount. Go, ahead, she said. Cash the check, send her another check for $4,000 and keep the rest. At this point my friend realized that scamminess was afoot. He never cashed the check, but he lost valuable time doing work for nothing.

I can cast no aspersions because I myself almost fell for it. In retrospect, as usual, I could see four red flags. Who can tell me what they were? Okay, never mind—I’ll tell you.

1) Mary’s family photo was a little too cute. An ecstatically happy Caucasian family at the park—all grinning idiotically, with exceptionally good teeth. It had that slick stock-photo quality. Further, a Canon digital SLR is strapped around Mary’s neck. She’s white and blonde, yet she writes in broken English. “Make cartoony of”? Okay, maybe she’s Latvian, but probably not.

2) Why doesn’t she have a credit card? After all, she’s got a spendy camera, she shuttles between countries, and the kids in her photo have designer jeans. She writes checks for this stuff?

3) Why does she need my cell phone number to write a check?

4) Why do I need to know about her humanitarian work? Perhaps she was just sharing.

Oh, I almost forgot. Mary’s initial email came through the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) website. She was apparently looking for cartoonists to scam. Really — why editorial cartoonists? C’mon! We don’t make a ton of money. Most of us need other sources of income to support our cartooning habit. We fight for the oppressed and downtrodden. We stand against injustice, greed and exploitation. For that we get hate mail and death threats. Why not scam greedy hyper-capitalists and human traffickers instead? Here’s a suggestion for cartoonists. The next time a scammer emails you, go ahead and agree to do the work. Then send them a terrible, poorly rendered cartoon with awful perspective, garish colors, bizarre anatomy and confusingly tangent lines. Sign it as Marc Chagall. Few people will be able to tell the difference, but the scammer will likely be arrested when he or she tries to pass it off as genuine. And you’ll feel good.

Just kidding. I love Marc Chagall.