BREAKING NEWS: Greg Zeller Won’t Seek Re-election In Crowded Attorney General Field

by Dave Stafford of Indiana Lawyer

Zoeller won’t seek re-election in crowded attorney general field

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller will not seek re-election, as at least four Republicans and one Democrat have announced they’ll seek the post.

Zoeller, who was defeated in the May 3 Republican primary for Indiana’s Ninth Congressional District, will not place his name in contention for the Republican nomination for attorney general. Zoeller’s campaign treasurer, Faegre Baker Daniels LLP partner Andy Buroker, confirmed Friday the two-term AG would not seek a third term.

The Indiana attorney general is not a term-limited position, and Zoeller could have sought re-election by filing for the Republican nomination by May 27. That’s the deadline for candidates to file for the party’s nomination. The party will chose its candidate for the November general election at the state Republican convention June 11.

These Republican candidates have filed as of Friday: Former Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter of Crown Point; Sen. Randy Head of Logansport; Elkhart County Prosecutor Curtis Hill; and Abby Kuzma, director of the consumer protection division of the Attorney General’s Office.

On the Democratic side, former Lake Circuit Judge Lorenzo Arredondo is the lone candidate who has filed for the party nomination. Democrats will select their nominee at the party convention June 18. The deadline for Democratic candidates to file for the nomination is June 10.

Zoeller finished third in a four-way primary for the GOP nomination for the seat in Congress with 22 percent of the vote. Trey Hollingsworth won the race with 34 percent of the vote and will face Democrat Shelli Yoder in November.

IS IT TRUE the Federal Court of Appeals just ruled that an Evansville Police Department officer used unreasonable force when he allowed a police dog to continue biting a man who had surrendered in a 2011 arrest? …the Court ruled that EPD Officer Zachary Elfreich is not immune from a lawsuit alleging that he violated the man’s Fourth Amendment constitutional rights by using excessive force, according to the appeals court?  …the three (3) Federal Court of Appeals .Judges ruled that the used of force is considered reasonable only when exercised in proportion to the threat posed and under the totality of the circumstances, they concluded that a jury could find that Officer Elfreich used excessive force.”?

IS IT TRUE the best part of the last City Council meeting when it was adjourned?

IS IT TRUE the segment held at the end of City Council  that allows public comment is  now dubbed as  the “3 Minutes of Censorship”?

IS IT TRUE the last Vanderburgh County Democratic party political fundraiser turn out to be a financial disaster? …we hear that the  Democratic party Golf fundraiser cost more money to put on than they collected?

IS IT TRUE that Vanderburgh GOP Chairman Wayne Park is one “heck of a political fundraiser”? …this is one of the main reasons why the local Republican party is doing so well in getting out the vote is because they have the money to do so?

IS IT TRUE we hear that a member of the Evansville City Council may have barred an immediate member of their family from attending City Council meetings? …this decision adds a new twist to the meaning of censorship?

IS IT TRUE the Trump–Ryan meeting yesterday opened the door for unity among the Republican party? …we shall soon see if the truce will hold?

IS IT TRUE Mayor Winnecke and his “First Lady” are visiting Germany in hopes of finding potential business opportunities for the City?  …we wonder who they took with them?

IS IT TRUE we are wondering when  the Vanderburgh County Republicans Party caucus will find an opponent for Democrat Ben Shoulders in the County Commissioner race?  …we hear that Mr. Shoulders shall get a free ride from the local GOP?

IS IT TRUE we wish you a safe FRIDAY 13th DAY?

FOOTNOTE: todays “Readers Poll” question is: Do you feel that the Mayors economic trip to Germany on behalf of  the citizens of Evansville is worthwhile?

Copyright 2015 City County Observer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

INTERESTING READ ABOUT DONALD TRUMP

( This article was sent to us by one of our readers. Author is unknown)

Donald John Trump, was born June 14, 1946.

He will be 70 years old on election day.

From the Internet, he is 6’2″ or 6’3′ and weighs between 195 and 200 lbs.

He has a full head of blond/brown hair (which is long and elaborately combed) and blue eyes.

The Internet tells us he wears a size 12 shoe.

Donald Trump was born the fourth of five children who were born over eleven years.

The oldest, Mary Ann, was born in 1937 and is currently a Federal Judge.

His older brother, Fred Jr, died in early adulthood as a result of complications from alcoholism.

He has another older sister, Elizabeth and a younger brother, Robert.

Donald Trump has been married three times.

Trump’s first wife, Ivana, was an immigrant from Czechoslovakia and a divorcee who has been married 4 times in her life. She is a lifelong avid skier and worked in design at the Trump Organization.

Marla Maples, Trump’s second wife is an actress and model

Trump’s third wife, Melania is an immigrant from Slovenia (born in Yugoslavia) and has been a super model.

Two of Trump’s children, Donald Jr and Ivanka, have gone to Penn. Son Eric, went to Georgetown.

Donald Trump tells us that he is Presbyterian.

Donald Trump does not appear to have had any interest in occults, mysticism or exotic mythologies.

Donald Trump’s oldest daughter, Ivanka, and her three children are Jewish.

Trump’s oldest daughter, Ivanka, is married to Jared Kushner who is, among other things, a newspaper publisher. The Kushner family is very successful in New York City area real estate.

Donald’s grandmother, mother, first wife, and third wife are all immigrants.

Donald Trump was born and raised in Queens NY.  Though his family was very wealthy, Trump’s boyhood home in the Jamaica Estates section of Queens was not a grand mansion. The Trump home was a larger version of the homes Fred Trump was building for his tenants.

There are no indications that the Trump family lived among the wealthy elites on vacations or country clubs.
Queens is the largest of New York’s five boroughs and the most ethnically diverse.

Trump attended a local private day school, the Kew Forrest School, in Queens until about 8th grade.
His secondary schooling was at New York Military Academy which is about 60 miles north of NYC in Cornwall on the Hudson. He was the class of 1964.

Trump was never a “Preppie”.
Trump never embraced any aspect of the “Hippie” movement of the time.
Trump was a very good high school athlete – football, soccer, and especially baseball. He had potential to become a professional baseball player.

Even in high school – Trump liked women and women liked him

Trump was generally popular in high school.Tump’s boarding school room mate liked him.

He attended Fordham University in NYC for two years and transferred to the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.

At that time, the Wharton School offered a rare program for Real Estate Business.
Though he was of age, Donald Trump did not serve in Vietnam.  He was not drafted due to bone spurs in his heels (4F) and also student deferments.  Ultimately, in the draft lottery, he drew a high number.

By all we know, Donald Trump does not smoke, drink or use recreational drugs. He’ll be the first President in more than 25 years who hasn’t smoked weed.

BTW: Trump’s children don’t smoke or drink

Trump makes it well known that he enjoys sexual interaction with women.

I am unaware that Donald Trump is a recreational gambler.

His doctor publicly announced Donald to be in excellent health.

Trump Family History – concise version.

Donald Trump’s grandparents immigrated to the U.S. from Alsace (Kallstadt, Germany) which throughout history has been alternately French and German. The Trumps are German, originally speaking the same German dialect as the Amish of Lancaster County, PA.

His maternal grandparents lived in Scotland.   Freiderich (Drumph) Trump made a small but respectable fortune in the late 19th Century in the mining boom towns of the American Northwest.

He returned to Germany to marry his childhood neighbor, Elizabeth Christ.

The newly married Trumps resettled in the Borough of Queens NY
Freidrich was establishing a Real Estate business in Queens when he died suddenly at age 49 (1918).
In 1920, at the age of 15, Fred Trump (Freiderich’s son and Donald’s father), started a business partnership with his widowed mother called Elizabeth Trump & Son.

This business was built upon the real estate holdings that his father, Frederich, had amassed (worth about $500,000.00 in today’s dollars). This is the original “seed money” of the current Trump Organization.
Elizabeth & Fred remained close business partners her entire life (she died in 1966).

In 1936 Fred Trump (age 31) married Mary Ann MacLeod (age 24) of Stoneaway Scotland.
During the depression, Fred Trump built and successfully operated a supermarket (a new concept at the time) which was sold to King Kullen Co. and operates this day.

Fred Trump made a lot of money building housing for the military during WWII.  Fred Trump was investigated by the Justice Department for making “excessive profits” from government contracts.

All (or nearly all) of the building of Elizabeth Trump & Son’s non-government building was residential property in Queens.

Fred Trump died in 1999 (age 94) – beloved and worth between $250 million and $300 million. His wife died a year later.

“The Donald’s” Career

Donald Trump is the greatest career achiever of the “baby boomer” generation.

Donald Trump has reached the zenith in his careers as book author, TV entertainer, sports entertainer, Real Estate developer, and currently politician.

Donald Trump has authored more than 18 books. At least one of them, The Art of the Deal was a top seller.

Donald says that the Holy Bible is his favorite book. The Art of the Deal is his 2nd favorite book. And The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale is his third favorite book.

He likes golf. Donald Trump has developed more than 11 golf courses which bear his name.

Donald Trump has twice been nominated for an Emmy Award

Donald Trump has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Donald Trump has been inducted to the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Donald Trump has appeared in more than a dozen movies such as Home Alone 2, Zoolander, and Little Rascals

Donald Trump has been a guest actor in more than 6 TV shows such as Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Days of Our Lives, Sex and the City, and others.

Trump has been the Executive Producer of 7 TV shows.

Trump has been the guest host of 5 TV shows such as Extra, Larry King Live, and Saturday Night Live and more.

Donald Trump has been co-producer of the longest running reality TV show.

Donald Trump performed in several WWE wrestling shows.

Donald performed in Wrestlemania 23 which set attendance records and revenue records up til that time.
In his first candidacy for public office, Donald Trump received the most popular votes for the President of the United States out of a field of experienced and successful politicians. And in most cases, he achieved this with less money than any of his opponents.

Keeping in mind that 90% of start up businesses fail, Trump’s record of enterprise is nothing short of amazing.

Donald Trump has enjoyed success in at least 11 very different enterprises: Professional football, Ice Skating rinks, Fragrance, Ice, Steaks, Wines, Model management, Airline, blenders, Men’s wear, Bicycle races, world class beauty contests, and many others. In some of these, such as model management, his firm has risen to the top of that particular industry.

There are 31 buildings that bear his name.

The largest private real estate development in New York is Trump Riverside. Drive down the Henry Hudson Blvd. There are at least 12 Trump Towers.  There are at least 6 Trump Plazas.

There are at least 11 Trump Golf Course developments

Trump Entertainment, casinos and resorts was recently sold to Carl Ichan.

Donald Trump’s personal managing of the Wollman Ice Skating Rink project in the early 1980’s is the quintessential case study for MBA students in Wharton, Harvard, and other business schools. His performance there was phenomenal.

Donald Trump’s privately held businesses have employed more than 200,000 people.
In the casino business in Atlantic City, Trump had to do business with known mobsters – and he stayed “clean” and alive.

Aside from his personal investments, Donald Trump has never been a Wall Street “player”.

The Political Trump:

From 1967 – 1987 – Democrat (he was a supporter of Ronald Reagan)

1987 – 1999 – Republican

1999 – 2001 – Reform Party (he supported Ross Perot)

2001 – 2009 – Democrat

2009 – 2011 – Republican

2011 – 2012 – Independent

2012 – Present – Republican

Donald Trump was openly supportive of Mitt Romney’s candidacy.

Donald Trump does not seem to hold political party organizations in high regard.
For the most part, his political involvement has been for practical reasons.

Donald Trump does not appear to be held to political ideology.

Some Causal Observations of Donald Trump.

Trump has an extraordinarily energetic central nervous system much like Teddy Roosevelt but more targeted to industry and enterprise.

Trump’s presidency will be very energetic, transparent, and communicative.

Trump will be a very hard working President.

His interaction with his older brother (who everybody loved) tells me that he thinks that everybody is like him – or wants to be – or should be.

His relationship with his older brother was a hard lesson in tolerance for him.
Trump is the Babe Ruth of career achievements.

He is dumb like a fox. When you think he just said something stupid – he didn’t. It’s just that you were not his target audience.

His son, Donald Jr.  is a “Blue Collar Billionaire”.

More than anything, his TV show, The Apprentice, was his passion. He wants all Americans to have confidence (like he does) to venture.

Donald Trump is attracted to and marries smart, high achieving women.
The highest levels of a Trump Administration is certain to have many women – and they will be bright and assertive.

Donald Trump’s children are very important to him. And it shows.

FOOTNOTE:  We know very little  about our current President. 

FOOTNOTE: POSTED  by the CCO WITHOUT OPINON, BIAS OR EDITING.

By Marsha Mercer for Statelines News

A year ago, Laura Hall felt tired all the time, was losing weight and had a bad cough.

The 41-year-old Spanish teacher from Shelburne, Vermont, went to doctors for three months before they finally nailed the diagnosis: active tuberculosis.

“I was scared. I was horrified. Oh my gosh, how did I get this? Where did I get it?” Hall said in a video about TB survivors’ experiences. “I didn’t think that I could get TB, ever.”

While Hall underwent treatment — isolation at home and a demanding regimen of antibiotics and other drugs — the Vermont Department of Health tested about 500 students and co-workers who might have been exposed to her. Nineteen children and two adults tested positive for latent TB. (People with latent TB aren’t sick or contagious, but they carry a greater lifetime risk of developing active TB.)

Hall’s was one of seven active cases in Vermont last year, up from two the year before. Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia also reported more active TB cases last year than in 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in March.

After two decades of steady decline, the number of active tuberculosis cases in the U.S. inched up last year. Hall’s was one of 9,563 TB cases reported last year, up from 9,406 cases the year before. The CDC is still trying to determine the reason for the uptick.

The goal set by the CDC, in 1989, of eliminating TB by 2010 — defined as less than one case in a million people — remains elusive. Even if the trend of declining cases had continued, the United States would not have eliminated TB by the end of this century, the CDC said.

“We are not yet certain why TB incidence has leveled off, but we do know it indicates the need for a new, expanded approach to TB elimination,” said Dr. Philip LoBue, director of the CDC’s Division of Tuberculosis Elimination, in an email.

A dual approach is needed: continue to find and treat cases of disease and evaluate their contacts as well as identify and evaluate other high-risk persons for latent TB infection, he said.

In Vermont, health officials aren’t sure whether last year’s increase was just a statistical anomaly or the beginning of a trend. In case it is the latter, the state Health Department is considering contracting with an outside firm to help it test contacts for exposure. Last year, the shorthanded department brought in health staff from around the state as well as volunteers from the Vermont Medical Reserve Corps to test contacts for exposure.

“We were lucky it wasn’t worse,” said Laura Ann Nicolai, deputy state epidemiologist and head of the tuberculosis control program.

Airborne Bacteria

TB is an airborne infectious disease caused by bacteria that spreads through the air, person to person, when someone coughs or sneezes. One in three people worldwide have latent TB, according to the World Health Organization. In the United States, up to 13 million people have been exposed to TB and could develop the disease.

Every year, tuberculosis claims 1.5 million lives worldwide and 500 to 600 in this country.

In the United States, Asians have the most cases and the highest rate of disease — 17.9 out of 100,000 persons. The top five countries of origin for foreign-born TB patients are Mexico, the Philippines, Vietnam, India and China.

Immigrants and refugees are screened for TB and treated before entering the United States. Tourists, students and temporary workers are not screened. The CDC does not recommend across-the-board screening for everyone entering the United States, the CDC’s LoBue said.

Because TB hits some ethnic and racial groups harder than others, TB patients can face discrimination and social isolation. Public health officials worry about finding ways to target high-risk populations with TB education and treatment without stigmatizing those groups.

“Given the stigmatization of TB, our ability to do targeted interactions is limited,” said Dr. Jeffrey Starke, a pediatric tuberculosis physician at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. Starke is a member of the federal Advisory Council for the Elimination of Tuberculosis, which makes policy recommendations. “We’ve got to find a nonpejorative way to do it so others don’t perceive discrimination,” he said.

Going in the Wrong Direction

State and local health departments are the front line of defense for a disease that many think has already been eradicated. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, TB was a leading cause of death in this country and Europe. With no cure for the disease, patients were urged to “go west.”

More people flocked to Colorado as TB patients looking for dry air and sun than stormed the state as prospectors during the gold rush. Among them: Doc Holliday, friends with gunslinger Wyatt Earp and a participant in the shootout at the O.K. Corral.

“Colorado historically has been on the forefront of TB work,” said Dr. Robert Belknap, director of the Denver Metro TB program. “At the turn of the century, one-third of the state was here because of TB — seeking care for themselves or family members,” he said.

Some of Colorado’s first hospitals were TB sanatoriums, later closed and repurposed. Local and state support for TB prevention and control remains strong in Colorado, said Belknap, president of the National Tuberculosis Controllers Association.

Today four states — California, New York, Texas and Florida — have more than half the nation’s active TB cases, though they have only a third of the country’s population. The four states have the highest numbers of foreign-born residents. The number of cases in Texas rose 5 percent to 1,334 last year.

“We’re clearly going in the wrong direction,” Starke said.

He pointed out that TB is “a social disease with medical implications” because living conditions put someone at risk. TB is associated with poverty, overcrowding and being born outside the United States.

California, with 2,137 cases in 2015, has more than one in five of the new U.S. cases each year and a TB rate nearly twice the national average. Its TB prevention and control program is the nation’s largest — a $17.2 million annual budget split roughly in half between federal and state general funds, and a 40-person central office staff that works with TB contacts in the state’s 61 local health jurisdictions.

In addition to state TB control efforts in California, local health department programs in the counties of Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco also receive federal TB control grants from the CDC. Those grants total $7.7 million this year.

About 2.5 million people are infected with TB in California, but most don’t know it, said Dr. Jennifer Flood, chief of California’s TB control program.

While California has several programs aimed at latent TB, she said, “Smaller states are often challenged to test and treat latent TB” because they lack the resources.

Labor Intensive Treatment

Treating TB patients is labor intensive. To ensure that TB patients complete the course of drugs that lasts six months or longer, Directly Observed Therapy programs require a health care worker — not a family member — to watch patients with active TB swallow every dose. If a patient cannot get to a clinic, a health care worker goes to the person’s home. The worker monitors patients for side effects and other problems.

Care also involves communication and cultural challenges. In Michigan, where the number of active TB cases rose from 105 in 2014 to 130 last year, the health department reaches out to Detroit’s large Arab and Bangladeshi populations. In other parts of the state, Burmese immigrants have different needs, said Peter Davidson, Michigan TB control manager.

“Some local health departments have strong partnerships with translation services. Some rely on a less formal mechanism — a private physician or someone on staff at the hospital who speaks the language,” Davidson said.

The cost of treating an active TB case that is susceptible or responsive to drugs averages $17,000, according to the CDC. Care of patients with drug-resistant TB, which can result from taking antibiotics prescribed before TB was properly diagnosed, costs many times more: $134,000 for a multidrug-resistant patient and $430,000 for an extensively drug-resistant one.

Advocates say TB suffers from a lack of urgency and funding.

“TB isn’t as exciting a topic because it’s been around so long. It doesn’t get as much attention as Ebola and Zika, and its advocates aren’t as active as those for HIV/AIDS,” said Belknap. “We’re jealous.”

The federal Tuberculosis Elimination Act, the chief federal funding for TB programs, is authorized at $243 million a year but has received an appropriation of far less for the last several years — $142 million this year, for example.

Most of the money goes to the 50 states, the District of Columbia, 10 major cities and eight territories in grants under a formula based on the number of cases, their severity and other factors. The grants are used to pay salaries for nurses, doctors and epidemiologists, as well as for education and outreach services. Treatment costs are paid by insurance, Medicaid and state and local governments.

Funding at the authorized level could support research on a vaccine and better drugs and treatment of more cases of latent TB, advocates say. For now, no TB vaccine is approved for use in the United States. The medicines that cure TB and brought down the disease rate were developed in the mid-20th century. They require months of treatment and can have serious side effects, including hearing loss. A promising new drug may be able to prevent TB with only 12 doses over three months.

“The tools we have are inadequate,” Belknap said. “It’s a federal and a global problem.”

A Story of Success

In many ways, though, the story of TB prevention and treatment in the United States is one of success.

“We often say we’re our own worst enemy,” said Donna Wegener, executive director of the National TB Controllers Association. “We had such success in reducing TB after the resurgence in the 1990s that people think we don’t need additional dollars.”

Patients with diabetes, cancer and especially HIV infection are more likely to contract active TB because their immune systems are less able to fight off TB germs. During the HIV/AIDs epidemic, from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, the number of TB cases jumped by 19 percent. From 1992 to 2014, the number of cases dropped 65 percent.

There were nearly as many cases of Lyme disease in Pennsylvania in 2014 (7,457) as there were TB cases in the United States (9,406).

But, Wegener said, “If we were reporting 10,000 new cases of polio a year in the U.S., that would be unacceptable. It’s criminal that we are OK with 10,000 cases of TB.”

Among those infected in the early 1990s was a young physician who volunteered to treat TB patients at a clinic in New York City. He tested positive for exposure but his latent TB did not progress to active disease. Tom Frieden now is director of the CDC, leading the fight against TB.