Adopt this guy and you can dance around the house singing, “Me, and you, and Zaboomafoo!†Zaboo is a male black & white cat who’s about 2 years old. He’s very snuggly and friendly! His $30 adoption fee includes his neuter, microchip, vaccines, and more. Call (812) 426-2563 or visit www.vhslifesaver.org for adoption details!
IS IT TRUE JULY 27, 2016
IS IT TRUE that our “INDY MOLES” were spot on when they told us that Lt. Governor Eric Holcomb would win the political caucus as the person to represent the Republican party for Governor?  … our “INDY MOLES” now tell us that there is a strong  movement a foot to convince State Auditor Suzanne Crouch to run for Lt. Governor?  …our “INDY MOLES” also tell us if she decides to run for this position it’s her for the asking?
IS IT TRUE if you were the Chairman of the Board of a multi million dollar Corporation would you consider hiring a member of the Evansville City Council to a top management position in your Corporation? Â If so, who would you hire?
IS IT TRUE we wonder if you would hire Lloyd Winnecke, Steve Schaefer, Alan Mounts, Russ Lloyd Jr, or Kelly Coures to be the CEO of your multi mullion dollar Corporation? Â Is so, who would you hire?
IS IT TRUE on April 21, 2016 a special fundraising event was held for four (4) current Vanderburgh County school board members at the Kennel Club of Evansville?  …a Brian Hancock of One Main Street P O Box 968,  Evansville put on the fundraiser event invitation “please make your checks out to: CHRIS KIEFER,  MIKE DUCKWORTH, RANCE OSSENBERRG, ANS ANDY GUARINO”? …Mr Hancock also stated on his invitation “your gift will secure this endeavor for future school board campaign of these respective candidates”?  …we wonder why Mr. Hancock didn’t invite the other members of the school board who are currently running for re-election?  …we wonder what business or organization is located at ONE MAIN STREET, Evansville  that sponsored this fundraiser?
IS IT TRUE City Controller Russ Lloyd, Jr recently stated that the city has many millions of dollars in the city  bank account as of June 30, 2016.?  … if  the City has that level of funds in our bank account why is it that City Council Finance Chairman Dan McGinn (acting as the surrogate for Mayor Winnecke) is asking for a reduction in the Homestead Tax Credit of nearly 25%?
IS IT TRUE according to a former member of City Council the changes in the City of Evansville operational funds over the last several years clearly point that we are currently experiencing a deficit spending spree around $800,000 to a $1 million dollar per month?  …if this information is correct we wonder why the only CPA on City Council Anne Hargis hasn’t contacted the State about this major cash flow problems? …if the City accounts are not in balanced we wonder why in the heck hasn’t City Council Finance Chairman Dan McGinn hasn’t asked  the SBOA do something about?
IS IT TRUE so far this year the City has transferred $12. 5 million dollars from the Riverboat Funds ?  …the Hospitalization  account was negative by $4 million dollars on June 30, 2015 and now is $7.5 million dollars in the red?
IS IT TRUE if the Vanderburgh County Council would had heeded the advice of former County Commissioner David Mosby that we should build a larger County jail County we wouldn’t be having the jail overcrowding issues facing us now?
FOOTNOTE: “IS IT TRUE†will be posted on this coming Friday?
Todays READERS POLL question is: Do you feel that the 22 member Committee will go along with Governor Pence replacement advice by selecting Lt. Governor Eric Holcomb?
Please take time and read our newest feature articles entitled “HOT JOBS†and “LOCAL SPORTS†posted in our sections.
If you would like to advertise in the CCO please contact us City-County Observer@live.com.
Copyright 2015
BREAKING NEWS: Homicide Early This Morning of 20 year old
The Evansville Police Department and the Vanderburgh County Coroner’s Office are investigating the death of Michael H. Farmer, age 20, of Evansville. Current information is that the Evansville Police Department responded to the area of Linwood and Sweetser Avenues at 01:42 AM after reports of gunshots were reported to 911 dispatch.
The victim was located and transported to St. Mary’s for treatment but was pronounced dead at 02:59am. Additional information in regards to the ongoing investigation can be obtained from the Evansville Police Department. An autopsy time is pending.
Vanderburgh Confinement Officer Receives Award From Indiana Sheriffs’ Association
Sheriff Dave Wedding, Chief Deputy John Strange and Confinement Sergeant Dave Guetling attended the 86th annual Indiana Sheriffs’ Association (ISA) Training Conference in Indianapolis this past weekend.
Confinement Sergeant Dave Guetling received the ISA’s Correctional Officer of the Year Award. Sergeant Guetling was nominated for this award by his supervisors and peers at the Vanderburgh County Jail. The award was presented to Sgt. Guetling by Vanderburgh County Sheriff Dave Wedding and Wayne County Sheriff Jeff Cappa, current ISA president.
Sheriff Wedding was elected by the ISA Board of Directors to serve as the 2nd Vice President for 2017 and Chief Strange was re-appointed to the Board by ISA President Sheriff Jeff Cappa.
This year’s featured speakers were John Thompson, Executive Director of the National Sheriffs’ Association, Col. Danny McKnight, US Army (ret.), who spoke on leadership and of the United States’ mission in Task Force Ranger (commonly known as the Black Hawk Down) mission, and Phil Chalmers, a leading researcher and expert on teen killers and how society teaches our kids to kill.
A special table was left vacant, except for vases and a single, brown campaign hat, which was set to honor all Indiana sheriffs and deputy sheriffs that have died in the line of duty since the inception of our state. A member of the ISA Honor Guard placed a rose on one of several vases on the table as the names of those sheriffs and deputies were called. The names included that of Vanderburgh County Special Deputy William Engle, who was killed while transporting a prisoner to stand trial in 1919.
Pictured above (left to right): Sheriff Dave Wedding, Sgt. Dave Guetling, Sheriff Jeff Cappa
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Pictured above (left to right): Chief Deputy John Strange, Sheriff Dave Wedding
Bucshon Statement On Holcomb
Bucshon Statement On Holcomb
“Our party had a strong group of Hoosier leaders ready to take over for Governor Mike Pence and I thank them all for their willingness to serve Indiana. Congratulations to my friend Eric Holcomb on becoming our Republican nominee for governor,â€Â said Bucshon. “Voters have a clear choice in November. As Speaker, John Gregg turned a budget surplus into a budget deficit and increased taxes on families. Eric Holcomb answered the call to serve Indiana by helping Governors Daniels and Pence turn the state around.
I’m ready to get to work to help Eric win so we can build on the conservative leadership of the past 12 years to cut taxes, grow our economy, and expand opportunity for every Hoosier!â€
CHANNEL 44 NEWS
Evansville City Council Looks to Change Homestead Tax Credit
While that resolution was withdrawn at Monday’s city council meeting, it’s not the end of the discussion.
Council will bring it back up in a meeting before November 1st, to get it passed.
“I personally believe we can not afford eight percent of our homestead tax credit,†said city councilman Dan McGinn.
In 2015, Evansville joined nine other Indiana counties offering a homestead tax exemption to homeowners. City council chose the highest homestead tax allowed by the state, eight percent.
For example, if someone in Vanderburgh County owes $1,000 in property taxes, with the homestead tax credit they would only have to pay $920.
McGinn says, the decision to have the homestead tax at eight percent, something he did vote in favor of, was “election exuberance.â€
“I wish I voted against it,†said McGinn. “Because it caused us some financial issues with some problems because it costs us $450,000 to $460,000.â€
Vanderburgh County is the only county in Indiana that offers the full eight percent homestead tax credit.
Allen County, where Fort Wayne sits, is the second highest at 7.0404%
“Let me tell you folks,†said McGinn. “We can not afford that, I’ll tell you that upfront.â€
Council has until November to change the current homestead tax credit.
McGinn says they plan to use a new formula to decide the new percentage the tax credit should be. He hopes it will be lowered to around six percent.
“That may allow us to keep all of our police and all of our firefighters and all of our road crews on,†said McGinn. “Which is something we need to do.â€
Indiana Counties that have a Homestead Credit:
- Allen – 7.0404%
- Marion – 3.0844%
- Miami – 2.6280%
- Monroe – 3.4820%
- Perry – 2.3328%
- Posey – 5.4261%
- St. Joseph – 5.8243%
- Spencer – 4.4136%
- Tippecanoe – 3.4022%
- Vanderburgh – 8.0000%
Warrick County Power Plant Deals Major Setbacks
A Warrick County Power Plant is dealing with some major setbacks after a coal silo collapsed Sunday.
The incident has caused severe damage to the F.B. Culley Power Plant owned by Vectren.
Two of the main units, Culley Two and Three, were out of commission for most of Sunday. Culley Two was back up and running by 4 a.m. Monday.
Culley Three that produces 270 megawatts of electricity will not be able to run for the next four to five weeks.
Vectren says if it continues to have problems, it will turn to Alcoa and other power plants in the Tri-State for assistance.
Sierra Club Calls on Vectren for a Clean Energy Transition Plan
Vectren Must Retire Its Coal Plants By 2023 Or Invest $230 Million To Comply With Water Toxics Rule
Evansville, IN — On Friday, Sierra Club called on Vectren to present the community with a plan to transition away from its aging and expensive coal-burning plants and to clean energy, even as Vectren announced that it must decide whether to invest at least $230 million into the plants or retire them by 2023.
The $230 million is Vectren’s estimate of costs associated with an EPA rule meant to reduce toxic water pollution. Vectren made the announcement at its 20-Year Planning Meeting on Friday.
“The decision here is clear. Either you are going to invest $230 million dollars into these plants, or you are going to plan to retire coal units by December of 2023,†Matt Skuya-Boss, Organizing Representative for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal to Clean Energy Campaign, told Vectren executives during a presentation at the 20-Year-Planning Meeting.
Vectren’s bills are already the highest in Indiana, and according to the United Way’s ALICE study, 47 percent of residents in Evansville are struggling to pay their bills.
On Thursday, Citizens Action Coalition (CAC) and Earthjustice filed an appeal, for the second time, on behalf of CAC, Sierra Club, and Valley Watch, in a case in which Vectren seeks to charge its customers tens of millions for pollution controls needed to make the plants comply with other environmental requirements.
If it decides to incur the $230 million to comply with the water toxics rule, Vectren will seek to pass those costs onto its customers as well.
“Instead of continuing to spend customer money on its expensive, aging plants, Vectren should present the community with a plan to responsibly transition away from coal, invest in energy efficiency and renewable energy, create jobs and stabilize our electric bills,†said Wendy Bredhold, Campaign Representative for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal to Clean Energy Campaign in the Ohio River Valley. “We call on Vectren CEO Carl Chapman to make the right decision for our community.â€
These area residents expressed their support for a clean energy transition plan at Friday’s rally:
Evansville homeowner Jean Webb, who recently invested in rooftop solar, echoed a concern about costs. “Vectren needs to add renewables to their portfolio mix not only to improve our health and future, but to give us some price stability,†she said, pointing out that currently, a 25-year contract for utility-scale solar currently runs less than 4 cents per kilowatt hour.
“With utility scale solar we could have twenty-five years with no price increase,†she said. “Let that sink in. No expensive pollution controls for the air or the water. No expensive legal filings for permits. No lobbying for looser EPA rules.â€
Tom Bogenschutz, with All Saints Catholic Church Ministry staff said, “By not including in their plan a significant transition to renewable energy, Vectren is failing in their part of it’s moral obligation. We call upon Vectren to put itself on a path now for a more sound future that will benefit all.â€
Mark Bryant, Valley Watch member and Posey County father of a child with asthma, said, “I’m here to say to Vectren now is the time to move away from a legacy of producing energy from burning toxic coal and start producing energy from clean renewable sources like wind and solar.â€
After the 20-Year Planning Meeting, Sierra Club presented Vectren CEO Carl Chapman with a petition from the community asking Vectren for a clean energy transition plan.
Donald Trump Is Enjoying A Customary Post-Convention Polling Bounce
PHILADELPHIA – As we anticipated, Donald Trump is enjoying a customary post-convention polling bounce. So far, the boost appears to be modest but clear. Despite a messy RNC in Cleveland, the GOP ticket has surged across multiple polls in advance of the DNC here in Philly. Democrats, meanwhile, will gavel in their quadrennial confab in a state of chaos and disunity. The soon-to-be-ex party chairwoman was booed off the stage by her own state delegation, and Bernie Sanders delegates are openly discussing mounting a floor challenge against Tim Kaine, Hillary Clinton’s Vice Presidential pick. Will Trump’s gains create a deeper schism within the Democratic ranks (see? we never should have nominated this flawed woman!), or will the prospect of a Trump presidency pull the center-Left together (differences aside, he must be stopped)? We shall see. Either way, memo to the party that rigged the system to coronate one of the least liked and least trusted politicians of our time — Donald J. Trump has now seized a very slight national lead:
Morning Consult also has Trump +4. It’s worth noting that the USC tracking poll, like Rasmussen, has been uncommonly kind to Trump. On the other hand, Reuters’ tracker has been especially unkind to him, and their latest (mid-RNC) numbers had him within low single digits — a major shift away from her. An additional data point to highlight is how in the CNN survey, Trump’s margin of advantage grows when Libertarian Gary Johnson is included; in CBS News’ findings, Johnson pulls equally from both major parties. The notion that Johnson acts as a disproportionately anti-GOP spoiler has been undermined by the polling over several months:
The CBS battleground poll of 11 swing states was virtually unchanged from prior to Trump’s nominating convention. Hillary Clinton’s position remained exactly static, as the billionaire gained two points to take a razor-thin lead, well within the margin of error. It’s now 42/41 for The Donald:
And here’s elections guru Nate Silver announcing that his unweighted electoral model has shifted dramatically to give Trump the edge:
It’s virtually inevitable that the Clinton/Kaine ticket will garner a convention bump of its own, reshuffling the numbers by next week. But as of July 25, 2016, literally the most disliked presidential nominee in the history of American political polling is beating Hillary Rodham Clinton. Over to you, Associated Press:
Hillary Clinton has a problem. Too many voters say they’re supporting her for a reason you’d never want printed on a campaign T-shirt: “I’m voting for the lesser of two evils.” It’s far from inspiring…Democrats and independent voters in the Philadelphia suburbs — a crucial area in a competitive state — expressed mixed feelings about Clinton in the days leading up to this week’s Democratic National Convention in their hometown. Like Trump, Clinton has her faithful followers. And like Trump, negative views of Clinton run deep, even among some supporters. Half of Clinton’s own backers say they consider her only slightly or not at all honest, and more than one-third say she’s only slightly or not at all likable, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll conducted this month. “I’m not excited,” said Matthew Mousley, 36, of Springfield, who nevertheless plans to support Clinton. “I guess, it’s just, I feel like there should be better options.” It’s a worry for Clinton’s top aides, who see maximizing Democratic turnout as a main campaign challenge.
MEMO CONCERNING GENERAL ELECTION FUNDING REQUEST
MEMO CONCERNING GENERAL ELECTION FUNDING REQUEST
From: Stucki, Debbie [mailto:dstucki@vanderburghcounty.in.gov]Â Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2016 3:06 PM
To: Tom Massey; David M. Shaw; Doug Briody
Cc: Rob Faulkner; Wparke; Guy Sides; VanCleave, Timothy; Kevin Harrison; Debbie Stucki
Subject: County Council meeting
Just a reminder that the Personnel and Finance meeting with County Council is tomorrow, July 27th at 3:30 in Council’s chambers room 301. Your support would be very much appreciated. This meeting is our chance to convince County Council to approve the money we are requesting for the General Election. They will listen to us, ask questions and then vote on it at the next County Council meeting.
All together I have ask for $25,018 for the General Election. When I turned in my budget last year, they cut $40,000 from line items for poll workers from my requested 2016 budget. In the primary I used 66% of some line item balances that they cut. I knew I would have to go to County Council to ask for more money even without the additional poll workers. I think the reports and your presence will help tremendously. I’ve attached the two handouts if you would like to review them again.
Hope to see some of you tomorrow at the meeting.
Thank you,
Debbie
Vanderburgh County Clerk