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‘A DOWNTOWN CHRISTMAS’ LIGHTS UP SATURDAY, DEC. 13

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Downtown Alliance collaborates on new, city-wide event.

A half-mile display of candle-lit luminaria will guide visitors through downtown Evansville this Saturday evening from 5 to 8 p.m. during a new event. ‘A Downtown Christmas,’ is part of a new day-long series of events woven together under the name ‘Holly Jolly Holiday.’ Other components of the festivities include: ‘A Dickens Christmas on Franklin;’ Ritzy’s Fantasy of Lights in support of the Easter Seals Rehabilitation Center; Evansville Ballet Theatre’s presentation of the Nutcracker with the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra at the historic Victory Theatre; and, candle-lit tours of the Victorian Christmas at The Reitz Home Museum.

A Downtown Christmas features entertainment in Kempf Family Park on the corner of Fourth and Main Streets, including a DJ, choral music, and a hand-bell choir. Santa and Mrs. Clause will chat with young visitors, and free hot chocolate will be served as well. The half-mile luminaria display will guide attendees to a collection of pop-up shops, downtown stores and downtown restaurants. The luminaria will be placed on Main, from Second to Sixth Streets, and on Fourth and Fifth Streets leading to other venues including the Children’s Museum of Evansville which will be open until 8 p.m. for the event.

Horse-drawn carriage rides ($5) can shuttle riders to the Reitz Home and back if desired.

In addition to the picturesque downtown atmosphere, a number of pop-up shops will be participating. In the 420 Main building these include: A Single Thread boutique; Emily Gartner for artistic fabrics and fashions; Old North Fair Trade shop; Evansville Ballet Theater presents a Nutcracker boutique; 19Nine from Indianapolis featuring their vintage-style t-shirts and sweats; Made in Evansville with unique logoed items; Uncharted International with handmade goods from Myanmar ; and, LiveWell/Flex 151 from Newburgh with gift cards, gift memberships and other items. Longfellow’s Barbeque will host a pop-up shop in the lobby of 318 Main, next to the Arts Council.

About Southwest Indiana Chamber

For nearly a century, the Southwest Indiana Chamber has been a trusted ally of the regional business community. Today, we’re one of the state’s largest, strongest, and most impactful nonprofit business organizations, representing a total membership of nearly 1,700 businesses, organizations, and agencies. About one-third of members have invested in our organization for 10 or more years. While nearly all major employers in our region are members of the Southwest Indiana Chamber, 71% of our members have fewer than 25 employees.

Learn more about the Chamber, our members, and the Southwest Indiana regional community at www.swinchamber.com.

OUR CHARTER IGNORED By Jim Redwine

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Gavel Gamut

By Jim Redwine

OUR CHARTER IGNORED

We systematically tortured 119 human beings whom unnamed functionaries claimed were involved in 9-11-2001. At least 24 of them have been proven to be innocent of any terrorist acts. At least one was working with us as a confidential informant.

No usable intelligence was obtained via torture according to the report of the United States Senate’s Intelligence Committee. These are the facts as supported by Senator John McCain (Republican from Arizona) who championed the release of this information.

John McCain was himself tortured by the North Vietnamese after he was shot down and captured while bombing the city of Hanoi, North Vietnam. None dare call him naïve. Senator McCain knows torture is first of all immoral, and secondly ineffective. For as McCain says:

“I know that victims of torture will offer intentionally misleading information if they think their captors will believe it. I know they will say whatever they think their torturers want them to say if they believe it will stop their suffering.”

America’s Constitution, the charter upon which we are founded, in Article VIII of the Bill of Rights, prohibits cruel and unusual punishment (even of those fairly convicted of crimes).

The people we have tortured, two to death, did not receive a grand jury indictment as required by Article V, which also prohibits persons from being, “ … compelled … to be a witness against themselves”.

Articles VI and VII are supposed to guarantee:

… the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed … and (these Articles require that a person) be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.”

The 119 people were spirited away in secret, imprisoned at still undisclosed locations, without being charged, without attorneys, without the right to confront their accusers or bring out favorable testimony or have a jury trial, or any trial. Several of these 119 torture victims along with many other political prisoners have been held incognito for years.

Some may argue that these non-citizens should not be afforded any of the rights guaranteed by our Constitution. That is the same position taken by the United States Supreme Court in the Dred Scott case in 1857. This legally defensible but morally reprehensible ruling helped bring about the loss of 600,000 American lives in the Civil War (1861 – 1865). Nations ignore their core values at their peril.

More importantly, the America we are so justly proud of should not act like the KGB of the old Soviet Union. We should not emulate the kind of inhumane and unconscionable behavior that we so properly condemned when it was engaged in by Stalin.

As one of our true heroes John McCain said, our actions in torturing these fellow human beings, “ … stained our national honor.” And he is a man well acquainted with both torture and honor.

It is time to close these gulags, including Guantanamo. It is past time to repatriate all illegally and immorally held persons. Or, if we do not wish to treat these people the way we would like to be treated in a similar situation, at an absolute minimum we should afford them the rights that our Constitution guarantees us all. We should do this not for their sake but for ours.

After all, how can we torture people for what a cabal of unregulated and faceless bureaucrats assume are violations of our laws when such torture is itself a more damning assault on our country’s foundation than the supposed acts of any hypothetical terrorists?

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High Speed Crash Kills Two on US 41

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SPONSORED BY DEFENSE ATTORNEY IVAN ARNAEZ.
DON’T GO TO COURT ALONE. CALL IVAN ARNAEZ @ 812-424-6671.

On Thursday, December 11, 2014 at approximately 7:20 pm, the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office responded to a crash at the intersection of US Hwy 41 and Mt. Pleasant Road involving a white Toyota Avalon and a semi tractor-trailer. When deputies arrived on scene they found two people deceased in the Toyota.

A preliminary investigation indicated the semi truck was beginning movement southbound on US 41 at Mt. Pleasant Road when a white Toyota struck the rear of the trailer. The Toyota appeared to have been traveling at a high rate of speed prior to the impact. The impact crushed the Toyota into the rear of the trailer. Both vehicles came to rest just south of the intersection.

The driver of the semi truck was not injured. The driver was transported to Deaconess Hospital for a blood toxicology test, which is standard procedure for a crash involving serious bodily injury or death.  The names of the occupants are being withheld at this time.

The Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office and Vanderburgh County Coroner’s Office is still investigating the crash. Southbound US 41 between E. Hillsdale Road and SR 57 remains closed at this time.

 

2ND WARD CANDIDATE STEVE DAVIS ENDORSES GAIL REICKEN FOR MAYOR

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10410980_1401325323492827_4745343901289356700_nIn a interview with Steve Davis this evening he provided us with his insight on the upcoming 2015 Mayors race.  Steve Davis is a declared candidate for the 2nd Ward City Council seat now being held by Democrat Missy Mosby.  Mr. Davis will be running against City Councilwoman Missy Mosby in the Democratic primary.

QUESTION  AND ANSWER SESSION WITH STEVE DAVIS:

Question: Wii  you support a Gail Riecken if she decides to run for Mayor?

Answer: I support Gail  Riecken for Mayor 100%.  I know that she will run the kind of grass roots campaign that would make Rick Davis proud.

Question: Why do you think Gail Riecken should be the next Mayor of Evansville?

Answer: Gail Riecken has proven leadership in administrative and legislative roles. She has served as a City Councilperson, the Director of the Parks Department and as a State Legislator.

Representative Riecken is the right person during this economically trying time for Evansville. She has built lasting relationships all over the state and knows every area of government. Her experience and strong advocacy for working men and women will generate the economic development Evansville deserves quality jobs with living wages.

Riecken understands that Evansville needs to invest in its people and not spend money we don’t have on fun and games. She sees the overspending that is occurring and will make the tough decisions as to where our money should go to maximize infrastructure improvements and job creation.

Question: Do you have an example of what’s wrong with the current Mayor’s spending?

Answer: The downtown hotel project should be stopped to ensure that the funds are available for the medical school. Once the medical school is here, the hotel will build itself without a subsidy from the taxpayers. Our current mayor has ignored the obvious warning signs of budget deficiencies and difficulty selling bonds while continuing to over spend on a monthly basis.

Question: How do you feel about the local Democrat Party?

Answer: The Democrat Party is full of dedicated men and women who are already putting their differences aside to work together for the betterment of Evansville. Everywhere I go people are ready for strong leadership. Democrats will provide that leadership. I’m proud to call myself a Democrat and to work with other local Democrats.

Question: Will the local Democrat Party be unified behind Gail  Riecken if she runs for Mayor?

Answer: Yes. I see all walks of the Democrat Party excited and unified in their support of Gail Riecken for Mayor. We have an opportunity to put one of the state’s best public servants in the Mayor’s office here in Evansville. As a community we cannot afford four more years of the current administration.

END INTERVIEW

VANDERBURGH COUNTY FELONY CHARGES

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SPONSORED BY DEFENSE ATTORNEY IVAN ARNAEZ.
DON’T GO TO COURT ALONE. CALL IVAN ARNAEZ @ 812-424-6671.

Below is a list of felony cases that were filed by the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Rashawn Cartwright       Criminal Trespass-Level 6 Felony
Pointing a Firearm-Class A Misdemeanor
Battery-Class B Misdemeanor
Public Intoxication-Class B Misdemeanor

Rico Collier                Operating a Motor Vehicle after Forfeiture of License for Life-Level 5 Felony

Rashelle Ferguson        Assisting a Criminal-Level 6 Felony
Possession of Paraphernalia-Class A Misdemeanor

Larry Harms Jr             Maintaining a Common Nuisance-Level 6 Felony
Failure to Report a Dead Body-Class A Misdemeanor
Possession of Paraphernalia-Class A Misdemeanor
Possession of Synthetic Drug or Synthetic Drug Lookalike Substance-Class A
Misdemeanor

Jeremy Miller            Battery Against a Public Safety Official-Level 6 Felony
Resisting Law Enforcement-Class A Misdemeanor

Shaquil Cabell              Battery Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury to a Person less than 14 Years of Age-
Level 3 Felony

George Flowers Jr     Possession of Paraphernalia-Level 6 Felony

William Hamer Jr           Operating a Vehicle as an Habitual Traffic Violator-Level 6 Felony

Michael Lee                   Residential Entry-Level 6 Felony
Resisting Law Enforcement-Class A Misdemeanor

Robbie Swinford          Battery by Means of a Deadly Weapon-Level 5 Felony
Battery-Class B Misdemeanor

Billy Travis                     Intimidation-Level 6 Felonies (Two Counts)
Resisting Law Enforcement-Class A Misdemeanor
Disorderly Conduct-Class B Misdemeanor
Public Intoxication-Class B Misdemeanor

Vanessa Vore            Theft-Level 6 Felony

Tyrone Williams        Battery Resulting in Bodily Injury to a Pregnant Woman-Level 5 Felony
Resisting Law Enforcement-Class A Misdemeanor
For further information on the cases listed above, or any pending case, please contact Kyle Phernetton at 812.435.5688 or via e-mail at kphernetton@vanderburghgov.org
Under Indiana law, all criminal defendants are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty by a court of law

Pet of the Week

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Public voyeurism statute not unconstitutionally vague as applied, COA rules

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Jennifer Nelson for www.theindianalawyer.com

A man who argued he lacked sufficient notice that the public voyeurism law prohibits his conduct because he filmed girls wearing bathing suits or a skort lost his case before the Indiana Court of Appeals Thursday.

Steven Sandleben appealed his two counts of Class D felony public voyeurism and one count of Class A misdemeanor public voyeurism. The felony counts came from his use of an underwater camera at a public pool to film the crotches of two 12-year-old girls in bathing suits. He zoomed in on their crotches and was able to see exposed private areas at times. The misdemeanor count is a result of his taking an upskirt photo in a store of a four-year-old girl who was wearing a skort.

He argued in Steven M. Sandleben v. State of Indiana, 82A05-1403-CR-95, that the evidence didn’t support his voyeurism convictions. The state had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he, without consent and with intent to peep at the private area of an individual, peeped at the private area and recorded an image by means of a camera. Police found footage of the 12-year-olds on his hard drive and on a website, and images of the four-year-old on an SD card.

Private area is defined as “the naked or undergarment clad genitals, pubic area, or buttocks of an individual.”

He claimed he only intended to film a bathing suit or shorts portion of the skort, neither of which is an undergarment.

“But the public voyeurism statute is written in the disjunctive: it speaks of either the undergarment-clad or the naked genitals, pubic area or buttocks,” Judge Edward Najam wrote. “And, here, Sandleben’s course of conduct supports a reasonable inference that Sandleben intended to film his victims’ private areas, not a pair of shorts or a bathing suit. Thus, we agree with the trial court that Sandleben attempted to commit public voyeurism.”

Sandleben also claimed that the public voyeurism statute as applied to him is unconstitutionally vague because the “private area” definition does not include bathing suits or skorts, so he lacked sufficient notice the law prohibited his conduct. But his conduct precisely fits that prohibited by the statute, Najam wrote, as he did not merely photograph or video someone wearing a bathing suit or skort. He instead zoomed in on the girls’ crotches and actively placed a camera up the four-year-old’s skort.

The judges also affirmed his aggregate four-year sentence, with three years executed in the Department of Correction and one year in community corrections. And while they found the trial court abused its discretion when it admitted certain business records over objection, those records were cumulative, which made the error harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.

IS IT TRUE December 12, 2014

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IS IT TRUE the City County Observer is pleased that State Representative Gail Riecken is considering running for Mayor of Evansville in 2015?…the nightmare scenario in all of next year’s city elections is for there to be no credible opposition for the mayor and the city council?…we have been through a straw man election once in 2007 with then Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel trouncing David Nixon, who had no qualifications to run and no chance to be elected?…Mr Nixon who was a perfectly decent human being, captured the republican nomination in a joke of a primary where he was against a college student and only about 1,000 votes were cast?…what followed was a mayor who really thought that is 85% – 15% margin of victory was a mandate for every breath that he took who proceeded to ram the Ford Center down the people of Evansville’s throats without a referendum?…what we have now as a result of the mandate of delusion is an arena that is eating close to $8 Million per year after being sold as “profitable from day one”?…this is what happens without balance in politics?

IS IT TRUE while we are hoping for opposition candidates in both the democrat and republican primaries for every office, even if that does not happen a campaign pitting mayor Winnecke against Representative Riecken would be one for the ages in Evansville politics?…with the Vanderburgh County Democrat Party still in shambles from the pinky shake antics of 2011, the first order of business for Representative Riecken will be to provide the leadership that will be required to heal the local democrats differences?…an early indicator toward a pathway to success in healing the party will be to gain the support of Rick Davis supporters and powerful 4th Ward City Councilwoman Connie Robinson?…an alliance between a candidate Riecken and Rick Davis supporters and Councilwoman Robinson will be capable of giving Team Winnecke a fight to remember?…the other interesting twist is that Mayor Winnecke and Representative Riecken know each other well and will treat each other with respect which should keep personal issues out of the election should Riecken choose to run?  …if Gail Riecken is elected Mayor of Evansville she will be the first female in the 202 year history of Evansville to serve in this position?

IS IT TRUE if you want to gauge just how concerned the Winnecke camp is about running against Riecken,  just listen to the whisper campaign prior to her possible announcement to run for Mayor? …if one starts running against a non-declared candidate, then that will show some serious concern or even fear? …if State Representative Riecken decides to run for Mayor of Evansville we predict that Mayor Winnecke will have the biggest political battle of his career?

IS IT TRUE both Mayor Winnecke and State Representative Riecken also have some explaining to do for a few choices made in the somewhat recent past?…it will be interesting to see if any mea culpas emerge early, and to see who may or may not have learned from choices that are widely perceived as less than favorable?…the most important issue that should be debated should this match-up come to pass is responsible budgeting and spending?…Representative Riecken rightly addressed that in her announcement of consideration when she expressed concern for runaway spending and insufficient budgeting attributed to the Winnecke Administration?…as with our country, the City of Evansville is at a fork in the road when it comes to spending?…on one fork is responsible spending that addresses critical infrastructure?…on the other there is the recent binge of spending on fun and games while kicking the can as far down the road as possible when it comes to things of substance?…if this election happens it will be about Winnecke’s results against Riecken’s plan, which we hope she will unveil during the campaign if it happens?

IS IT TRUE the State of Kentucky made a sane decision in choosing not to give any incentives to a religious theme park that is proposed to showcase a biblical size replica of Noah’s Ark?…while this may be an attraction that many people will attend, we stand firmly on the principles of separation of church and state and applaud Kentucky for coming to its senses?

IS IT TRUE That John Steinbeck produced one of the most inspiring sentences ever published in his epic book East of Eden?…Steinbeck wrote and we should all remember “And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.”?…no one and no system of government has ever or will ever be perfect?…let us just work toward constructive dialog in the spirit of collaboration to get back to a place that will at least qualify as good?…this applies at the local, state, and national levels?…the first question we should all ask when pondering on a vote is whether or not a particular candidate can actually come up with a plan for goodness and orchestrate the implementation of than plan without creating more damage than the good that is done?

Please take time and vote in todays “Readers Poll”.

Copyright 2014 City County Observer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Homeless Man Down on His Luck is Helped by Two Warrick Co Deputies and a State Trooper

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Warrick: This morning at approximately 6:50, Indiana State Police and Warrick County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the Landmark subdivision located on Epworth Road north of SR 662 in reference to a suspicions person. Officers later located and identified the person as a 49-year-old homeless man that wanted to go back home to Richmond, VA, and visit his father. The 49-year-old had been living in the Evansville area for approximately one year and didn’t have any money. Officers made contact with his father and he was not able to send money to help his son. Deputy Adam Silva, Deputy Jim Altmeyer and Trooper John Puskas chipped in and purchased a bus ticket to Richmond, VA, so he could spend the holidays with his father. He was transported to the bus station in Dale where he will take a Greyhound bus back home.

Evansville man arrested on gun charge after running from an officer

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SPONSORED BY DEFENSE ATTORNEY IVAN ARNAEZ.
DON’T GO TO COURT ALONE. CALL IVAN ARNAEZ @ 812-424-6671.

Evansville Police arrested 19 year old DESHAY HACKNER on resisting law enforcement and gun possession charges after he ran from an officer during a car stop.

An officer pulled a car over in the 1000 block of Madison at 4:40pm on Wednesday. All three occupants got out of the car and ran.
Hackner was captured a short distance away and identified as the rear passenger.
While checking the car, officers found a .45 caliber handgun on the rear passenger floorboard.
Hackner was just paroled in November after serving time for an Armed Robbery. He was a juvenile at the time of the robbery, but was waived to adult court.
Hackner is now facing Possession of a Weapon by a Serious Violent Felon (L4 Felony) and Resisting Law Enforcement ( Class A Misdemeanor) charges.
The driver and second passenger were not located.

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