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EDITORIAL: The 2015 Evansville City Election Promises To Be A Wild Ride!

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The City-County Observer is anticipating the announcement in early January of 2015 by State Representative Gail Riecken that she will be a candidate for Mayor of Evansville. If we are correct about her announcement it will kick off a new model for elections in this city.  State Representative Gail Riecken has long been the poster-child for dedication and concern for the interests of the working-class and disenfranchised people of her district and this community.

State Representative Gail Riecken is well known for her opposition to “Right-to-Work” legislation and she has had strong support of organized labor in her previous campaigns, but that will change in 2015. Reliable sources tell us that a few local labor union bosses will support incumbent Mayor Lloyd Winnecke for a second term over their long-time friend, State Representative Gail Riecken. The reason given for this political switch-up in loyalty is  “Winnecke gives the unions everything they ask for.  That, we believe, is a code for “We (the union brotherhood) own and control Mayor Winnecke”

 

Union bosses like to brag about their organization’s political clout. If big labor, which is strongly Democratic, enjoys such great political power we would be interested in their explanation for the 2014 election results. On the national level, Republicans hold majorities in both the House and Senate. In Indiana, we have a Republican governor and super-majorities in both houses of the Legislature. Locally, the County government is controlled by the Republicans and the Mayor is also Republican.  Only our City Council has a majority of Democrats but is on the verge of losing that status.  Its interesting to note that unions may make large political contributions to campaigns, but they can no longer deliver a sizable bloc of votes in Evansville.

 

Also, union endorsements are not heeded the way they once were. We wonder if the up-coming city election will jolt the labor leaders into the 21st century reality,  that a union endorsement means no more than one from the Chamber of Commerce or any other PAC committees. We expect that Representative Riecken’s reputation of compassion for and accountability to her constituents will make her a very formidable opponent for our free spending liberal Mayor.

 

Mayor Winnecke has consistently shown his political loyalty to Downtown, Historical District and Haynie’s Corner area over the rest of the city, which has placed Evansville in a fiscal crisis with his free-spending attempts to buy “frills” and ignore basic needs of the entire city.  We also hope that the Evansville Mayoral campaign will shine some light on the monthly financial shortfalls that haunt the 3rd floor of the Civic Center.

 

CCO has been told by highly reliable sources that the truth is that the first estimates for construction of the proposed Downtown Hotel came in $18 million over budget, which made the private share of the financing impossible to obtain. The second rebidding of this project with fewer hotel rooms also failed to meet the budget projections as well.  Both bid results have been a jealously guarded secret by the current administration from the taxpayers of Evansville.  We also hope that the upcoming Mayoral campaign we provide us with the real truths about how much of taxpayers money was wasted so far of the proposed Downtown Hotel project.

 

We see the Mayoral election of 2015 as history in the making for the City of Evansville.  It will be the first time in the two hundred (200) plus years of Evansville history that a qualified woman could be elected Mayor of this proud city because times have changed.  Brace yourselves because the 2015 Evansville City election promises to be a wild and exciting ride!

Finally,  attached below is a video that one of our readers sent this morning for your viewing pleasure. This video is about  recent downtown ground breaking for the hotel.

 

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.

Jury awards Indiana teacher nearly $2M in firing over IVF

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IL Staff for www.theindianalawyer.com

A federal jury awarded a former teacher nearly $2 million Friday after finding that a northern Indiana Roman Catholic diocese discriminated against her by firing her after church officials learned she was trying to get pregnant through in vitro fertilization.

The group of five women and seven men announced its decision in favor of Emily Herx late Friday afternoon after beginning deliberations about 10:30 a.m., finding she was the victim of discrimination when the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend declined to renew her contract at St. Vincent de Paul School in 2011. Her attorneys argued that male teachers accused of violating the moral teachings of the church had been allowed to keep their jobs.

Herx’s complaint charged the diocese violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disability Act when it terminated her employment. The diocese asserted it was exempt to liability under Title VII. It pointed to religious exemptions in the measure as giving protection to religious institutions making employment decisions based on the religious and secular activities of their employees.

The federal court granted the diocese’s motion for summary judgment with respect to the ADA claim, but not the Title VII claim. The diocese asked the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals to intervene before the trial and dismiss the complaint on religious freedom grounds, but the 7th Circuit declined earlier this month.

The jury awarded Herx $1.75 million for emotional and physical damages, $125,000 for medical expenses, $75,000 for lost wages and $1 in punitive damages, WANE-TV reported.

The diocese contended Herx violated the terms of her contract and it plans to file an appeal of the decision, according to the station. The diocese argued that, according to church teachings, in vitro fertilization is gravely evil, no circumstance can justify it, and those beliefs apply to men and women who participate in the procedure.

IVF involves mixing egg and sperm in a laboratory dish and transferring a resulting embryo into the womb.

Herx, who is from Hoagland, about 15 miles northeast of Fort Wayne, testified during the trial before U.S. District Judge Robert L. Miller Jr. that a fertility doctor told her IVF was her most likely way to have a second child.

The treatments began in early 2010, and Herx said she kept her principal informed at the woman’s request.

Bishop Kevin Rhoades testified Thursday he didn’t know that Sandra Guffey, Herx’s principal and a fellow Catholic, had known for more than a year that Herx was undergoing the infertility treatment and he was unaware of emails between Guffey and Herx about the treatment, The Journal Gazette reported.

Herx’s attorney, Kathleen Delaney, asked Rhoades if, after seeing the emails, he could see that Herx might have felt she had the support of her bosses to undergo the treatment.

Rhoades said yes, but also said he’s not sure whether it would have changed the decision to terminate her contract.

The suit is Emily Herx v. Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend Inc. and St. Vincent de Paul School, 1:12-CV-122.

Regional Hospitals Implement Flu VisitationRestrictions

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In response to the increase in influenza cases nationwide and in the Tri-State area, the hospital members of the Community Patient Safety Coalition are implementing unified hospital visitation restrictions effective Monday, December 22nd. The restrictions include:

  • No visitors with influenza-like symptoms in the hospitals. Symptoms include cough, sore throat, fever, chills, aches, runny or stuffy nose, and vomiting or diarrhea.
  • No visitors under the age of 15.
  • No visitors other than immediate family or other significant persons as defined by the patient.

Visitors are encouraged to wash their hands frequently while in the hospital and wear protective face masks when instructed. Exceptions to these restrictions may be made for cases involving critically ill patients and end-of-life situations.

These restrictions were developed using recommendations from the Vanderburgh County Health Department.

The flu can cause serious complications and even death, especially in the very young, the elderly, and those with certain existing medical conditions. These measures are being taken in an effort to protect patients, families, and hospital staff. We appreciate the community’s understanding and cooperation.

Community Patient Safety Coalition Hospitals Include:

Daviess Community Hospital

Deaconess Health System

Evansville Surgery Center

Gibson General Hospital

Good Samaritan Hospital

HealthSouth – Evansville

Memorial Hospital and Health Center, Jasper

Methodist Hospital, Henderson, KY

Perry County Hospital

St. Mary’s Health

The Heart Hospital, Newburgh

The Women’s Hospital

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IS IT TRUE December 23, 2014

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IS IT TRUE last month we just crossed 1.8 Million page views for 2014?  … without the computer programming issues we faced during a 2 month span earlier this year we would have exceeded 2 million page views this year?  … that we want to thank our readers for the support they have given us this year?

IS IT TRUE in what is perhaps the most symbolic accident of the two centuries that Evansville, Indiana has been a home to anyone, some poor soul who was in Hammerheads to enjoy the entertainment on Saturday night got shot in the foot?…of course this person was not holding the gun and did not shoot themselves in the foot, but a bullet to the foot in downtown Evansville no matter how painful it may have been is a metaphor for everything the City of Evansville has done in the last 10 years?…that “shooting yourself in the foot” is a metaphor for doing or saying something that causes problems for you?…the words “I think you might be shooting yourself in the foot if you don’t take his offer” apply so appropriately to the Earthcare Energy misfire and the 4 failed attempts to use traditional methods to get a downtown hotel that it is laughable?…with all due respect to the person who was shot by another person in Hammerheads, this is exactly what the governance of the City of Evansville has been doing to the people of Evansville with downtown projects as long as most of us can remember?…once again, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity?…it is time to stop the insanity?

IS IT TRUE the City County Observer is pleased to see an assertive President of the United States who is making decisions and taking actions instead of acquiescing like a bump on a log to every special interest knumbskull who vies for his attention?

IS IT TRUE we are totally impressed that someway and somehow the internet service to North Korea has been shut down?…we do not know if this happened as a result that something the United States government did or if it was just some teenage hackers who made this happen, but we know given the North Korean attack on our Freedom of Speech that the black out of this rouge republic was proportional and appropriate?…whether one wants to watch this movie or not is not material, as one of our basic freeedoms was attacked by a foreign entity and retribution is the correct response?

IS IT TRUE we are watching closely for the upcoming appointments by Mayor Winnecke and the City Council to the boards and commissions that lose many of their members one week from Friday?…we hope that the “Homerule” ordinance will result in a group of city dwellers of substance who are willing to take on these tasks?…we doubt that there is enough time to even do background checks at this stage of the game, much less to vet them properly?…we suggest you see paragraph one about shooting oneself in the foot?

IS IT TRUE many of our readers have been making comments about the success of Owensboro in attracting hotels and revitalizing their riverfront as though Evansville should be following Owensboro’s lead?…there may be some merit to that advice as Owensboro’s riverfront does seem much more user friendly and is filled with people on most weekends?…Owensboro also has 2 new hotels that supposedly were built entirely from investor dollars without any public incentive up front?…up front is the operative word as Owensboro did indeed guarantee a certain number of room sales and will be on the hook for some bucks if the hotels do not perform as agreed upon?…that seems like a much smarter way to incentivize a hotel than just handing out a big check up front that the developer could easily just flip for a profit the day the construction ends?…there is on other little known fact about Owensboro and that is that the last public hanging in the United States took place on August 14, 1936, in Owensboro to dispense justice upon Rainey Bethea who was executed for the rape and murder of 70-year-old Lischa Edwards?…that execution was presided over by the first female sheriff in Kentucky, Florence Shoemaker Thompson?

Finally, attached below is a video that one of our readers sent this morning for your viewing pleasure. This video is about recent downtown ground breaking for the hotel.

 

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.

Vanderburgh County Recent Booking Records

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

http://www.vanderburghsheriff.com/recent-booking-records.aspx#content

EPD Activity Report December 22, 2014

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

EPD Activity Report

Libraries closed for holidays

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All Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library locations will be closed for the upcoming holidays.

EVPL will be closed:
Wednesday, December 24th and Thursday, December 25th for Christmas
Wednesday, December 31st and Thursday, January 1st for New Year’s

Download eBooks, eAudiobooks, music and more any time at www.evpl.org.

The Downside of Living Alone

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The number of Americans who choose to live alone continues to grow.
So finds a recent Current Population Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau. According to The Washington Post, the survey found that “the proportion of Americans who live alone has grown steadily since the 1920s, increasing from roughly 5 percent then to 27 percent in 2013.”
The Post reports the number of men living alone doubled to 12 percent from 1970 to 2012. Some 15 percent of households are comprised of women living alone. In large urban areas, such as Manhattan and Washington, “about half of households have single occupants, and in some neighborhoods the proportion is two-thirds…”
And why are more people living alone? Because they want to. The more their economic means have allowed it, the more people have chosen to get their own digs.
As someone who lives alone, I’m just not so sure this is a good thing.
I compare the way many single people live today with the home in which I grew up. I lived with five sisters, two parents and a dog. Until I was 12, we had only one shower. We had to share and be considerate of others.
This was during the ’70s and ’80s, when the shag haircut — the long, full Farrah Fawcett hair — was all the rage, which meant my sisters were spending a lot of time washing, conditioning and drying their hair in our only full bathroom.
My poor father spent many of his adult years sitting on his bed in his robe, waiting to get a shower so he could go to work or to the store. His bedroom was at the far end of the house, however. No sooner did he hear the bathroom door open and begin heading down the hallway than he’d hear it slam shut again — someone else going in to get a shower.
The only way I ever got in was by threatening to use my sisters’ toothbrushes.
Our house was a chaotic place. Friends, family and neighbors were always coming and going. The doors were never locked. If you set anything you owned on a table, somebody would relocate it and you’d never see it again. And when something broke, which was about a dozen times every day, my sisters blamed me and everyone was happy.
Well, unlike the way I grew up, I live alone now and have total command over my little world. This is not good. Because there is no one to tell me to clean, I follow the P.J. O’Rourke school of thought: I clean my place about once every girlfriend.
You see, because I live alone, most daily activities are all about me and only me. And because so many people are living as I do, I wonder whether more of our population is becoming more isolated and insular.
More of us are coming home to orderly little worlds that have not been disturbed by the presence of other people. We don’t hear the sound of a baby crying or a stereo playing. We don’t know the scent of cookies being baked as a gift to us. We don’t know the chaos or uncertainty that always occurs when you live with creatures as unpredictable as human beings — people who help us escape the narrowness of ourselves.
No, instead we know an orderly little existence. We have total control over every piece of furniture, every ounce of shampoo in the bathroom and every scrap of food in the refrigerator — though I admit I don’t toss things out of my refrigerator often enough.
Much like comedian Blake Clark, I had one milk carton in my refrigerator so long, it had a picture of the Lindbergh baby printed on the back of it.

KEVIN HART “WHAT NOW” TOUR

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Saturday, January 24
7:00pm

Live Nation  presents
KEVIN HART
“What Now” Tour
Kevin Hart, one of the foremost comedians and entertainers in the industry today, is bringing his “What Now” tour to the Old National Events Plaza’s Aiken Theatre. With his passion for stand-up and entertainment, Hart continues to tour the country to sold-out audiences.

In the movies, Kevin will next be seen in the Chris Rock directed film, Top Five, alongside Adam Sandler, Jerry Seinfeld and Whoopi Goldberg, and has already completed production on three other comedies slated for 2015, Screen Gem’s The Wedding Ringer, Get Hard, opposite Will Farrell and Ride Along 2, the sequel to this year’s one-hundred-million-dollar blockbuster hit of the same name. Hart starred earlier this year in About Last Night, a re-make of the iconic 1986 film, which opened to huge box-office success as well.

Tickets go on-sale today at 9:00am!

All Seats are $59.50

 

IS IT TRUE December 22, 2104

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IS IT TRUE in nearly every interview with Mayor Winnecke about the death of the downtown hotel project as we know it, Old National Bank CEO Bob Jones is standing with him offering somber support?…we do want to point out that ONB entered into this hotel situation with a good civic intention and remains committed to being a good corporate citizen?…no other Evansville based company large or small stepped forward to attempt to bridge the funding gap between public subsidies and the developer’s comfort level for a purchase price?…the stark reality of what has transpired makes it crystal clear that the market value for the entire project to a private developer is only $37 Million which is less than the construction estimate for the hotel excluding the apartments and the parking garage?…that is remarkably close to the newly appealed assessment for the ONB headquarters?…given the size of the project it is prudent to assume that the value of the ONB headquarters and the hotel/apartment complex is about equal?…as we stated last week, SANITY PREVAILED WHEN THE FREE MARKET DYNAMICS WERE NOT TAINTED BY GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE?

IS IT TRUE we are mystified that the naming rights for The Centre were not appraised a year ago when this scheme was concocted?…one would think that the first logical action prior to an announcement and a happy dance would have been to commission a professional appraisal of the advertising value of the naming rights for The Centre?…we are 100% sure that ONB would never enter into a funding agreement to finance the purchase a piece of property without an appraisal?…we are also sure that ONB would make the borrower pay for the appraisal?…the enthusiasm of cocktails with the Mayor at the rooftop bar must have blinded the analytic reality of those normally good banking minds?…this is testament to the power of a dream no matter how unattainable that dream may be?…the $400,000 per year naming rights deal right across the street for the larger and busier Ford Center should have guided the thought process on the first agreement but it did not?…there is a strangeness about this valuation debacle that begs for some answers?…the writer knows Bob Jones and knows that he is neither a fool nor a liar?…this is not the kind of thing that elevates one to be the CEO of a public bank and a respected leader across the country?…it makes one suspect that we have not heard the whole story yet and that something other than the lack of 6.5 Million is driving this implosion?

IS IT TRUE the coalition of the clueless (ONB, HCW, & City of Evansville) apparently can’t even agree on how short the ONB naming rights were?…Rick Huffman has been quoted as saying the shortage was $8M while Bob Jones says it is $6.5 M?…Huffman was even quoted as stating the project budget was $78 M when it has been common knowledge for over a year that the budget was $71.3 M?…these gaps and the other clueless claim by Mayor Winnecke that the hotel will create 800 jobs when even the biased Hunden Study only claims a fourth of that, are reasons to conclude that this coalition of the clueless has never possessed the mental horsepower to take on a project of any size?…anyone or any group that cannot add and subtract can surely not manage so much as a little league team?

IS IT TRUE the CCO is a bit disturbed at the confessions of Mayor Winnecke that there have been known funding gaps for 3 months, yet he was putting out a press release every couple of weeks about the looming start of construction?…that was misleading and disingenuous?…telling the truth no matter how bad it may have looked would have been and will always be the right policy?…we have to wonder why anyone with a memory would believe a word that comes from the Winnecke Administration about projects or job creation?…that statement about creating more jobs than the hotel was proposed to have rooms took the cake for either incompetence or dishonesty?…as we have said many times, the nonsense and fluff needs to stop?…it is time to get serious about PLANNING and INFRASTRUCTURE neither of which Evansville will survive without?…the bridge to nowhere and the backhoe sentinel are monuments to failing to think, plan, and implement?

IS IT TRUE we are glad to see that the City of Evansville has received a grant of $600,000 to demolish some blighted houses?…at Tom Barnett’s estimate of $5,000 per house for demolition, this money will get rid of 120 blighted houses that need more work than they will ever be worth?…according to Barnett we now have only 9,880 more blighted homes to go to get rid of all of the abandoned homes in the City?

IS IT TRUE finally, we are disturbed to learn through a very well placed MOLE that HCW never executed a franchise agreement with Hilton?…Rick Huffman told Evansville Living over a year ago that he had this in hand?…it was discovered in March that his claim was not true?…Huffman and the Mayor doubled down on that story in June right before they learned the bids for the hotel were well over budget?…today, there still is no franchise agreement, which in all likelihood means they did not have a loan in place either?…we hope that when, and we do mean when, another opportunity for a hotel comes up that it will be with a company whose priciples will be transparent about project milestones and that they will be throuroghly vetted before the City Council jumps into a $20 Million bed with them?

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

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