IS IT TRUE we wonder how Mayor Winnecke, City Council leadership (McGinn, Mosby,and Weaver) and City controller Russ Lloyd Jr believe that they balance the 2017 City Budget by deferring around  $10 million dollars plus of unpaid 2016 City Employee Healthcare bills next year?

IS IT TRUE it’s hard to understand why the majority of City Council members felt it was “good public policy” to spend around $600,000  plus dollars of our hard earned tax dollars to fund a “Penguins Exhibit”?  … they should had taken this money and put it towards our City Employee Healthcare benefit package?  …Monday night City Council meeting shall ever be known as the “Penguins. Over City Employees” gathering?

IS IT TRUE Mayor Winnecke is now telling people that he opposed City Council for voting to reduce our Homestead Tax Credits by 2%? …his statement is laughable?…we hope that everyone living in Vanderburgh County realize that your property taxes will now be increased by an additional 2% thanks to Winnecke and  his members of  City Council? … we are hearing that residents of the County are calling this decision “Taxation Without Representation”?

IS IT TRUE because of future budget challenges we hear that the EPD are now looking at replacing “guard dogs” with ‘Penguins” to protect us?

IS IT TRUE it seems like Mayor Winnecke and his Council leadership approach to help balance the 2017 City budget was to reduce our Homestead Credit by 2% and increase our County COTI income taxes to the max?  …after Monday nights Council meeting the answer is a resounding “YES”?

IS IT TRUE  the taxpayers of Evansville proper pledged around $57 million dollars of our hard earned tax dollars to insure that 1,500 Ivy Tech-Evansville students could enrolled in the Medical programs located in the Downtown IU Medical School Complex.

IS IT TRUE  that Ivy Tech students aren’t second class citizens but are highly motived and focus individuals and deserve to be taught at a first class facility located at the I U Medical School complex Downtown Evansville!

IS IT TRUE we urge our readers and supporters of Ivy Tech to immediately contact members of the Evansville City Council, the Mayors office,  elected County office holders, members of our local Legislative delegation and the Governor to urge them to contact the powers that be to include the  funding of Ivy Tech-Evansville  to build a medical classroom at the new I U Medical School complex located in Downtown Evansville?

IS IT TRUE we remember when Mayor Winnecke, I U Board President Pat Shoulders, members of City Council, members our local State Legislature, Chamber of Commence, CEO”S at our local Hospitals, local Trade Unions, main stream media, leaders at U of E, Ivy Tech and USI asked us to support the IU Medical School complex? …they told us that Ivy Tech Medical students are the key to the success of the new Downtown IU Medical School complex because they will bring around 1,500 medical students to this project?

IS IT TRUE the above organizations, individuals, elected officials and community leaders also told us by including Ivy Tech students in this project it would be a big economic boost to downtown housing, entertainment and dinning demands because of the projected influx of 1,500 Ivy Tech students?

IS IT TRUE this an obvious developing story and we look forward to see how the movers and shakers of this community will come together and correct this insulting budget oversight.?  … Its time that we take an active and aggressive stand so that we can insure that the outstanding Ivy Tech students enrolled in Medical programs will be allowed  to take classes in the new educational wing at the IU Medical School Complex?

IS IT TRUE that the bottom line, is students at Ivy Tech are not second class citizens but highly motived and focus individuals?  … they deserve to be taught in a first class educational facility located at the IU Medical School complex Downtown Evansville?

IS IT TRUE its time that you get off of your rear ends and demand that the Higher Education Commission include Ivy Tech-Evansville desire to build a medical classroom pod at the new I U Medical School complex located in Downtown be approved?

IS IT TRUE last week we posted that “we wonder why EVSC School Board member and EPD officer Jeff Worthington is no longer the police liaison officer at Mater Dei High School”? …since that post we received many phone calls concerning this post? …all we know that EPD Officer Jeff Worthington has been the Mater Dei High School liaison officer for about 15 years and seemly was doing a creditable job in that position? …Officer Worthington is running for re-election to the EVSC Board and some of our readers want to know why he is no longer the police liaison officer at Mater Dei High School and has been reassigned to a 3rd shift position with the EPD?

FOOTNOTE: Todays “READERS POLL” question is: If you were the Chairman of a multi-million corporation who would you hire as your CEO?

“When we were doing our budget this year we kind of cut back on what we were expecting to get from the city,” said Keep Evansville Beautiful Executive Director Julie Welch.

In the 2016 budget, funding to several non-profit groups was cut by 50 percent. This year, council voted 5-4 to cut their funding again by another 50 percent.

“We’re not in the grand giving business for not-for-profits, it’s just not fair,” said City Council Vice President Jonathan Weaver. “I’m telling you, that your tax dollars that you pay on your property are going to go to these specific charities and I don’t think that’s fair.”

Keep Evansville Beautiful applied for $10,000 in funding this year. Welch was expecting to receive about half of that but will now only receive $3,000.

“We plan to just try to cut back some of our expenses,” said Welch. “And hopefully some of our donors, we have wonderful donors, hopefully our donors will help us a little bit more during our annual campaign. That’s going to start in November.”

The Vanderburgh Humane Society is another one of the not-for-profit groups set to see a cut in funding. Along with Keep Evansville Beautiful VHS didn’t figure in the grant they were expecting to receive from the city into their budget.

In years past, VHS received a $5,000 grant from the city’s recreational fund. Last year it was cut to $2,500.

This year they anticipated receiving a $3,000 grant but with more cuts, they’ll only be getting $1,500.

VHS Executive Director Kendall Paul says while it’s disappointing, in the grand scheme of their yearly $1.2 million dollar budget, it won’t have a huge impact on them.

“It all comes down to people in the community making this place,” said Paul. “And most other non-profits in this community work.”

And in a city like Evansville, both Welch and Paul believe as city council continues to cut money available to non-profits, they’ll still be able to offer their services to the community.

“Evansville is one of the generous places I’ve ever seen,” said Welch. “The people here are so benevolent for non profits and really help non profits a lot here. So I feel like when donors of these non profits find out these non profits were cut hopefully they’ll step up to the plate for them”

That statistic has local leaders joining with Youth First to address the problem through a town hall.

It took place Tuesday night in Evansville.

The event, part of the Talk, They Hear You Campaign, aims to open a dialog between parents and their children on the consequences of underage drinking.

The goal of the campaign is to reduce underage drinking among youth ages 9 to 15.

It has been a few years since Youth First held a town hall type event, but they plan to hold more in the future.

After a long and distinguished healthcare career marked by innovation, dedication and servant leadership, Mike Schatzlein, MD, has announced he will be stepping down effective December 31, 2016, from Ascension, the nation’s largest non-profit and Catholic health system. He will continue to reside in Nashville, and concentrate on his work as Chair of the Center for Medical Interoperability, incoming Chair of the United Way Board, and a member of the Council Capital CEO Council.

Dr. Schatzlein serves as Senior Vice President, Ascension Healthcare, and Group Ministry Market Executive with oversight responsibility for the Ascension Indiana and Tennessee Ministry Markets. And since August 2015 he has served as President and Chief Executive Officer for Ascension’s St. Vincent’s HealthCare in Jacksonville, Florida. He previously served as President and CEO for Ascension’s Saint Thomas Health in Nashville, Tennessee, from June 2010 through July 2015.

“Mike’s career has been marked by humility, passion for exceptional care, and a keen sense of humor,” said Patricia A. Maryland, Dr.PH, President, Healthcare Operations and Chief Operating Officer, Ascension Healthcare, a division of Ascension. He earned his bachelor’s and medical degrees from Indiana University and trained in surgery at the Indiana University Medical Center, Indianapolis, and in thoracic surgery at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He also earned a Master’s in Business Administration from Indiana Wesleyan University, Marion.

Dr. Schatzlein practiced cardiothoracic and vascular surgery in Fort Wayne, Indiana, from 1980 to 1994, performing the first heart transplant in northern Indiana in 1985. At one point, nine of the 22 longest-living heart transplant patients in the world had received their transplants under his direction.

In 1994, Dr. Schatzlein added healthcare administration to his resume, serving in various executive roles with Lutheran Health in Fort Wayne, where he was active in community affairs and served on numerous boards. He chaired the capital campaign for Indiana-Purdue University Fort Wayne and served on the Advisory Councils for that university’s School of Medicine and School of Business. He helped executives from Quorum, Triad, and Community Health Systems (CHS) take Lutheran Hospital from a standalone hospital to northern Indiana’s largest health system. He was appointed system CEO there in 2007, and in 2009 assumed operating responsibility for all 10 of CHS’s Indiana hospitals.

Dr. Schatzlein has long been dedicated to improving healthcare not only for his patients, but for all individuals and communities. Beginning in 2010, under his leadership Saint Thomas Health grew from five to nine hospitals and created the state’s largest accountable care organization, MissionPoint Health Partners, now part of Ascension Care Management.

“Dr. Schatzlein’s emphasis on efficiency and operational rigor led Saint Thomas Health to its most successful financial and operational years and a regional reputation for quality, innovation and service,” Dr. Maryland said. “His insistence on consistently improving all aspects of organizational performance was motivated by a passion for continuously improving care for patients and their families. He was and is a student of the teachings and examples of St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillac and an ardent admirer of the Daughters of Charity, one of Ascension’s historical sponsors.”

Speaking with Becker’s Hospital Review late last year, Dr. Schatzlein said his desire to develop clinically integrated systems of care goes back to the 1980s and 1990s, and he continues to focus on population health. His second passion after population health, he said, has been improving processes and safety in hospitals. “My experience as a physician led me to population health as the best solution for delivery, and process improvement as the best solution for cost and quality,” he said.

“As a physician and an administrator, Mike has demonstrated the importance of listening and the value of mentoring,” Dr. Maryland said. “He has been a role model and guide for clinicians and administrative leaders across Ascension, including serving as a Career Sponsor in the Ascension Leadership Academy, and we are a stronger and more compassionate ministry thanks to his influence.”

###

About Ascension

Ascension (www.ascension.org) is a faith-based healthcare organization dedicated to transformation through innovation across the continuum of care. As the largest non-profit health system in the U.S. and the world’s largest Catholic health system, Ascension is committed to delivering compassionate, personalized care to all, with special attention to persons living in poverty and those most vulnerable. In FY2016, Ascension provided more than $1.8 billion in care of persons living in poverty and other community benefit programs. Ascension includes approximately 160,000 associates and 36,000 aligned providers. Ascension’s Healthcare Division operates 2,500 sites of care – including 141 hospitals and more than 30 senior living facilities – in 24 states and the District of Columbia, while its Solutions Division provides a variety of services and solutions including physician practice management, venture capital investing, investment management, biomedical engineering, facilities management, clinical care management, information services, risk management, and contracting through Ascension’s own group purchasing organization.

Ever wonder what happens to all those battered bicycles chained to street poles or abandoned on bike racks, with rusting pedals, bent frames and missing tires or handlebars?

It depends on the city.

In Denver, they’re sold at auction.

In New York City, they’re sent to a scrap recycling center.

And in Chicago, they’re handed off to a nonprofit that donates many of them to developing countries where people may have no transportation.

Across the country, there’s been a biking boom. Tens of millions of Americans ride bikes, for recreation, or to run errands or go to social events. And a growing number of people in many cities are riding their bikes to work.

But that increase has been accompanied by what bicycling enthusiasts, and city officials, say is a growing number of abandoned two-wheelers, left behind on sidewalks, or other public places, for days, or even months.

The bikes can be an eyesore, especially if they have rusted chains and have been stripped of parts. They’re also a headache for riders, because they take away valuable bike rack space, which can be in short supply.

“There’s not enough good bike parking already in most places,” said Bill Nesper, vice president of the League of American Bicyclists, a national cycling advocacy group. “For people who are bicycling, it’s frustrating if the bike rack has an abandoned bike, or several of them, attached. There’s just no space.”

Different Approaches
No one keeps nationwide data on the number of bikes abandoned in American cities. But each year, across the country, thousands are confiscated by city workers.

While cities have different approaches to dealing with the problem, most initially get involved after a complaint is called in, usually by a local resident or business owner. City workers or police go look at the bike and tag it with a warning notice, if it appears to be abandoned, which often means it is inoperable, damaged or missing essential parts. The owner usually is given time to get the bike, sometimes days, sometimes weeks.

If the bike is still sitting there, workers cut the lock with a bolt cutter, or some other device, and confiscate it.

In New York City, an owner has seven days to remove a bike after it’s been tagged. If not, it goes directly to a processing plant, where if it is 50 percent or more metal, it gets recycled. Those that aren’t are considered trash and go to the landfill.

The city has seized about 1,300 “derelict” bikes since 2010, according to Kathy Dawkins, a Department of Sanitation spokeswoman. Last year alone, it received 1,726 complaints about abandoned bikes, and sanitation workers ended up carting off 497.

Many other cities give owners a chance to claim their confiscated bikes. Some require a description of the bike and where it was last locked; others require identification and proof of ownership, such as a receipt or a registration or serial number. If the bike is unclaimed, they dispose of it.

In some cities, abandoned bikes get auctioned off. Denver police, for example, auction approximately 120 to 150 bikes every three months, about a third of which are abandoned, said Bart Malpass, a Denver police detective. (The others have been stolen or held by police for other reasons.)

If the bikes are in bad shape and not rideable, they’re put in groups of five or seven and sold as a lot, sometimes just frames or wheels. Auction proceeds go to the city’s general fund.

Other cities have found creative ways to give the beat-up bikes a new life.

In Indianapolis, police send them to Freewheelin’ Community Bikes, a nonprofit that teaches kids between 10 and 18 basic bike mechanic skills, problem-solving and leadership. At the end of the program, kids get a bike, a lock and a helmet.

In Wichita, Kansas, where abandoned bikes traditionally have been sold at auction, the city, since July, has allowed the police department’s homeless outreach team to claim them if they’ve been in storage for a month. Bike Walk Wichita, a nonprofit, reconditions them for free and the police team distributes them to chronically homeless people who have jobs and no transportation.

“Rather than selling a bike for 10 or 15 bucks at auction, these bikes go to people who really need them,” said Nate Schwiethale, a Wichita police officer.

Chicago has received 1,232 complaints about abandoned bikes, since June 2014, and workers tagged 781 of them, said Department of Transportation spokesman Michael Claffey. After a week or two, they are removed and held, for up to three months, in a warehouse. If they’re not claimed, they’re donated to Working Bikes, a nonprofit that rescues discarded bikes and redistributes them locally and globally.

Paul Fitzgerald, the nonprofit’s general manager, estimates about 60 percent of the 300 or so bikes it gets from the city, each year, ultimately can be refurbished, or used for parts. The group sends many of the bikes “as is” to El Salvador, Ghana and other countries, where they are repaired and then used by people who have no transportation. The parts that are not reusable are recycled as scrap metal.

Some of the abandoned bikes are restored by the group’s volunteers and staffers, and donated to Chicagoans in need.

“People in Chicago walk an inordinate distance to get to a shelter or a soup kitchen or a job,” Fitzgerald said. “Some children in developing countries are walking more than five miles to get to school. The difference a bike means for these individuals is huge.”

Why Abandon Your Bike?
There are many theories about why someone would leave a bike locked up on a city sidewalk for weeks or months, and never return to pick it up. But they’re just that — theories.

Nesper, of the cycling advocacy group, supposes some owners may decide to walk away from their bikes if the parts have been stolen.

“The person may say, ‘Forget it, it got stripped, and I’m not going to take the rest of it with me,’ ” he said. “It’s a puzzle, why people abandon them, and I don’t understand it, but it seems to be happening more and more.”

Many bikes left behind are old and battered, but sometimes, they’re newer and expensive. Police officers theorize that some bikes are abandoned after thieves steal them, ride them around for a while and keep them locked up, until they see a model they like better, which they then swipe.

Some in the biking world blame the phenomenon on a disposable society, in which people are used to dumping things that aren’t the newest and shiniest.

“They may have locked up their bike for a while and forgotten the combination, or it has a flat front tire, and they figure it’s a hassle and not worth dealing with,” said Tim Blumenthal, president of PeopleForBikes, an advocacy group supported by the bike industry. “People upgrade to a new phone all the time and don’t even think about it.”

On college campuses, thousands of bikes are left behind every summer when students return home. The schools often end up selling them at auction.

Whatever the reason bikes are being discarded, Blumenthal said, they deserve a second chance. That’s why community-based nonprofits are cropping up all over the country that rehab them and give them a new life.

“There’s a lot of potential,” he said. “All these bikes just need a little love and repair work.”

Indiana DNR Law Enforcement Director Danny L. East has promoted 4 Indiana Conservation Officers to serve in various administrative and leadership capacities.

Operations Major Terry Hyndman has been appointed to Lieutenant Colonel/Executive Officer.  Lt. Col. Hyndman began his career in 1985 as a field officer in Marshall County.  He was promoted to District 1 First Sergeant in 1995 and served in that capacity for 2 years before being promoted to the South Region Captain in 1997.  Hyndman was promoted to Operations Major in 2011.  Lt. Col. Hyndman is a 2002 graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia. The Lieutenant Colonel acts as the Executive Officer for Director East and provides oversite and supervision of the operations, budget and administration of the Law Enforcement Division.

Captain Jason Lee has been appointed to Operations Major.  Major Lee began his career in 1998 as a field officer assigned to Johnson County later transferring to Brown County.  He was promoted to District 6 Lieutenant in 2009 before being promoted to South Region Captain in 2011.  He is a 2014 graduate of the FBI National Academy and a 2016 graduate of Police Executive Leadership Academy (PELA).  The Operations Major provides statewide supervision and oversight of operational needs of the ten districts and 2 regions.

Lieutenant Tim Beaver has been appointed to South Region Captain.  Captain Beaver began his career as a field officer assigned to Bartholomew County in 2003.  He was promoted to District 6 Lieutenant in 2011 where he provided supervision, leadership and administrative duties for 20 officers.  He is a 2011 graduate of the IMPD Leadership Academy.  The South Region Captain will provide oversight and supervision for the southern 5 district lieutenants.

Sergeant Shawn Brown has been promoted to District 10 Lieutenant.  Lt. Brown served as a field officer in LaPorte County from 1995 to 2013 before being promoted to District 10 Corporal.  He was then promoted to District 10 Administrative Sergeant in 2014.  District 10 consists of 7 counties in the extreme northwest portion of the state and is home to thirteen Indiana Conservation Officers.  He is a 2014 graduate of the IMPD Leadership Academy.

“I am very proud of the accomplishments of each of these leaders” said Danny L. East, DNR Law Enforcement Division Director.  “The vast duties and responsibilities of an Indiana Conservation Officer require leadership from people who have knowledge, wisdom and experience to fill the leadership role and these men have demonstrated those qualities.”