Recycle Day
Saturday  5/3/2014 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Old Walmart west parking lot
4595 University Drive
ITEMS TO BRING: (Please be sure items are clean and sorted.)
Aluminum cans
Metal food cans
Cardboard
Catalogs/magazines
Newspaper
Mixed paper
Glass containers
#1 thru #7 plastic containers – no Styrofoam or plastic bags
Vanderburgh County Residents Only
*weather permitting*
Dates & Locations subject to change.
Mayor Lloyd Winnecke announces the City of Evansville will accept applications for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program May 12 through June 5. Nonprofit agencies offering public services are eligible to apply for CDBG grant funding for programs ranging from daycare services, food providers, and many others.
The proposal must meet HUD requirements and the agency must attend a training session to be held on May 8 at Central Library Browning Room B from 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. and have an in-office meeting with DMD staff after the proposal is made. After proposals are determined to be eligible, they are reviewed by the Citizens Advisory Committee, which is appointed by the Mayor.
The CAC recommendations are reviewed by the Mayor and are sent to the Evansville City Council for approval. Kelley Coures, the Department of Metropolitan Development (DMD) Community Development Coordinator, said in 2014 the city was able to fund 36 out of 39 public service grant requests. Coures said the City will have approximately $300,000 to allocate to public service activities for the 2015 plan year.
In addition to the public service grant program, the City of Evansville also funds assistance to homeowners with CDBG dollars in a variety of ways through nonprofit agencies. One of the most successful programs using City allocated CDBG funds is the Memorial Community Development Corporation Emergency Home Repair Program.
The City launched the local Home Repair program in 2010 with $100,000 in grant funds, and continued funding the program at that level in 2011 and 2012. Under the leadership of Mayor Winnecke, the DMD sought City Council approval to increase the funding to $284,000 in 2013. Karma Green-Johnson,
Director of Neighborhood Stabilization for Memorial CDC, said the program has helped more than 35 families in 2014, including Kelly and Kevin Casper.
The Casper’s home had fallen into disrepair creating an unsafe living environment. The couple met income guidelines and was current on mortgage payments and property taxes, making them eligible for assistance through Memorial’s Emergency Home Repair Program. Kelly Casper said contractors hired by Memorial installed new waterlines and repaired a leaking kitchen sink, replaced a cracked bathtub and the water-damaged subfloor under the tub, upgraded the house electrical service, repaired the heater, installed a new air conditioning unit, repaired structural damage to the living room ceiling, and installed new steps and a handrail at the rear entrance.
Kelly Casper said the family could not afford to make the repairs without financial assistance.
“It seems like after paying for everyday bills there is never enough money left to fix the important things that need to be done,†Kelly Casper said. “With help from the Department of Metropolitan Development and the Memorial Emergency Home Repair Program, we were able to fix our home and make it a safe place to live.â€
For more information about the Community Development Block Grant Program, contact DMD Community Development Coordinator Kelley Coures at 436-7806. For information on the Memorial Development Corporation Emergency Home Repair Program, contact Karma Green Johnson at 402-5530. Kelly Casper may be reached at 479-0903.
Since I first began serving as your state representative four years ago, I have been committed to addressing many different issues facing our community and state. One major issue that I have continued to be outspoken about is the widespread manufacture and use of methamphetamine. Last April, 207 meth labs were seized in Indiana by the State Police, and according to a report from the Department of Justice’s National Clandestine Laboratory Seizure Report, Indiana is leading the nation in the number of meth lab seizures. We have taken small steps to combat this issue, but I believe much more work is needed.
One step taken by the General Assembly this past session to address this problem was passing House Enrolled Act (HEA) 1141 , which I authored. This law will provide a clearer history on homes, elaborating on whether or not a house has ever been affected by meth. This law was a direct result of individuals from our community asking for help in dealing with the damaging effects of meth use and manufacturing. It is not acceptable for this to be happening in any community, especially in our backyards, where meth lab busts continue to be a problem.
I firmly believe one way to combat the meth epidemic in Indiana is to make pseudoephedrine, a key component of meth, a scheduled drug. We can also learn from other states and look at ways they have addressed the issue of meth in their communities. According to a study put together for the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, Oregon and Mississippi, both states with prescription-only laws as well as their neighboring states, have experienced a decline in meth-lab related incidents.
The main argument I continue to hear is that when someone is feeling the onset of sickness, it would be inconvenient to require a prescription for pseudoephedrine, which can resolve symptoms fairly quickly. Another argument is that the drug will still come in from Mexico. I believe they will, but for your average meth maker, manufacturing it will become much more difficult and unpleasant, which other states have seen following the passage of the their more restrictive laws.
I have worked very closely with the Indiana State Police Meth Suppression Unit to keep up-to-date of the latest tactics to conquer this widespread issue. More education will help deter the use of meth in Indiana as well. Oregon has had success through education and public service announcements against the harmful effects of meth.
Looking ahead, I have begun to consider legislation for the 2015 legislative session that would try to address some of the major arguments against scheduling pseudoephedrine. I believe through compromise, other legislators and I can come to an agreement on the best way to address this issue. This deadly scourge is in our backyard, and it will take a herculean effort by all Hoosiers to resolve. As my voting record and legislation I have championed will confirm, I plan to continue to fight this horrible plague until there is relief for our community.
SPONSORED BY DEFENSE ATTORNEY IVAN ARNAEZ.
DON’T GO TO COURT ALONE. CALL IVAN ARNAEZ @ 812-424-6671.
The Indiana State Police participated in the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) eighth Drug Take Back Event which resulted in Hoosiers across Indiana dropping off unwanted prescription drugs.
The first DEA Drug Take Back Event took place in September of 2010 and resulted in 2.4 tons of drugs being dropped off for disposal. The results are in for the most recent Drug Take Back event from this past Saturday, April 26, 2014 which resulted in 12 tons of drugs being dropped off.
The Indiana State Police drop off locations contributed 1,752 pounds to the statewide total.
The nationwide totals will be available next week.
The Indiana State Police has partnered with the DEA in each Drug Take Back event. This popular public service event helps reduce the improper disposal of unwanted prescription drugs by providing an alternative to flushing them down the toilet, placing the
St. Mary’s Safety Grade Release
Some people do more research on what car to buy than what hospital to go to for medical care. The Hospital Safety Score provides data and research which allows consumers to make informed decisions about a critical aspect of a hospital stay – safety.
“A hospital can have the best medical staff and the most advanced technology in the world, but unless it is eliminating medical and medication errors as well as preventing infections and injuries, it is not delivering on a very basic promise: ensuring the safety of you and your loved ones,†said Keith Jewell, President St. Mary’s Health.
Designed to rate how well hospitals protect patients from accidents, errors, injuries and infections, the latest Hospital Safety Score honored St. Mary’s with an “A†– its top grade in patient safety. The Hospital Safety Score is compiled under the guidance of the nation’s leading experts on patient safety and is administered by The Leapfrog Group (Leapfrog), an independent industry watchdog. The first and only hospital safety rating to be peer-reviewed in the Journal of Patient Safety, the Score is free to the public and designed to give consumers information they can use to protect themselves and their families when facing a hospital stay.
“Safety should come first for our families when we pick a hospital, because errors and infections are common and deadly,†said Leah Binder, president & CEO of The Leapfrog Group, which produces the Hospital Safety Score. “No hospital is perfect, but we congratulate the Board, clinicians, administration, and staff of St. Mary’s for achieving an “A†and showing us that you made the well-being of you patients your top priority.â€
“This score is the culmination of a lot of hard work on behalf of our St. Mary’s medical community. Collaboration and communication have been key in our receiving this rating and we will continue to strive for this level of quality,†stated Michael S. Klueh, St. Mary’s
Vice President, Chief Risk & Corporate Responsibility Officer.
Calculated under the guidance of Leapfrog’s Blue Ribbon Expert Panel, the Hospital Safety Score uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to produce a single “A,†“B,†“C,†“D,†or “F†score representing a hospital’s overall capacity to keep patients safe from preventable harm. More than 2,500 U.S. general hospitals were assigned scores in spring 2014, with about 32-percent receiving an “A†grade. The Hospital Safety Score is fully transparent, and its website offers a full analysis of the data and methodology used in determining grades.
“We are indeed living up to healing body, mind and spirit at St. Mary’s when we approach the core of healing with this high grade for the safety of our patients,†added Jewell. To see how St. Mary’s score compares locally and nationally, and to access safety tips
for patients and their loved ones, visit the Hospital Safety Score website at www.hospitalsafetyscore.org. Consumers can also go to www.hospitalsafetyscore.org for a free download of the Hospital Safety Score app.
About The Leapfrog Group
The Hospital Safety Score (www.hospitalsafetyscore.org) is an initiative of The Leapfrog Group (www.leapfroggroup.org), a national nonprofit organization using the collective leverage of large purchasers of health care to initiate breakthrough improvements in the safety, quality and affordability of health care for Americans. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey allows purchasers to structure their contracts and purchasing to reward the highest performing hospitals. The Leapfrog Group was founded in November 2000 with support from the Business Roundtable and national funders and is now independently operated with support from its purchaser and other members.
About St. Mary’s Health
St. Mary’s Health, based in Evansville, Indiana, is a faith-based health ministry serving communities in Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky. With more than 750 physicians and one of the largest Tri-State employers, St. Mary’s has been recognized as Magnet Organization and named 4th in Best Hospitals in Indiana by US News & World Report. Since 1872, St. Mary’s has been guided by its mission of serving all persons as well as the poor and vulnerable. St. Mary’s is a partner of St. Vincent Health (www.stvincent.org) and a member of Ascension Health (www.ascensionhealth.org). To learn more about our specialties and services or for more information, visit www.stmarys.org .
SPONSORED BY DEFENSE ATTORNEY IVAN ARNAEZ.
DON’T GO TO COURT ALONE. CALL IVAN ARNAEZ @ 812-424-6671.
The Indiana State Police would like to remind citizens that the farm planting season is upon us and often requires large farm machinery to be on the road. This requires drivers in rural areas to be alert to the possibility of encountering slow moving farm machines. Motorists should be prepared to slow or stop to avoid a collision with a farm machine turning into a field or driveway.
Tips for Farmers and Rural Drivers:
•Farm machinery can unexpectedly turn onto a public road from a field or driveway. It is important for everyone to have patience and share the road.
•Farm machinery travels slower than normal traffic, often at speeds of 25 miles per hour or less. Automobile drivers must quickly identify farm equipment and slow down immediately to avoid rear end crashes.
•Slow moving farm machinery, traveling at less than 25 miles per hour, are required to display a slow moving vehicle emblem on the back of the equipment. This is a quickly identifiable sign to other motorists. All lighting should be working properly and be highly visible.
•Slow moving vehicles are required to pull off to the right when three or more vehicles are blocked and cannot pass on the left.
•Machinery that is half on the road and half on the shoulder may suddenly move completely onto the road. Machinery may take up more than one lane to avoid obstacles such as road signs.
Before passing farm machinery:
•Check to be sure that machinery is not turning left. Look for left turn lights or hand signals. If the machinery slows and pulls toward the right side of the road, the operator is likely preparing to make a wide left turn. Likewise, sometimes to make a right turn with wide equipment, the driver must fade to the left.
•Determine if the road is wide enough for you and the machinery to safely share.
•Look for roadside obstacles such as mailboxes, bridges, or road signs that may cause the machinery to move to the center of the road.
•Be sure there is adequate distance for you to safely pass.
Extra patience, careful driving habits, and the use of highly visible markings, and lighting will help prevent crashes involving farm machines and automobiles.
Since we posted our endorsement for a candidate for County Council in the May 6 Republican primary, we have been inundated with phone calls, emails and texts. We have also been analyzing the comments sent to us by our independent-thinking and loyal readers concerning this endorsement.
It is obvious, after analyzing all the feedback received, that the City County Observer management made a major error in judgment in deciding to endorse a political candidate. Â What our readers told us it that they want us to stay unbiased by not endorsing any political candidate.
We apologize for our  error in judgment and accept your honest, candid and open criticism of us.  Therefore, today we shall reaffirm our past political endorsement policy of being neutral and politically unbiased.
Also, in all honesty, we were positioned tomorrow, to endorse a candidate for the Vanderburgh County Commissioner’s race, and have decided not to do so because WE GET IT. Â In its place, we have decided to let you our readers tell us who you want to endorse in the contested May 6th Republican primary County Council, County Commissioner and the 8th District for United States House of Representative races.
We just implement a new Readers’ Poll: Â you will be able to vote your endorsement of who you want to win in the upcoming contested primary races. Â This poll shall end this evening at 11:00 pm tonight. The next Readers Poll will be the Vanderburgh County Commission race. Â The final Readers Poll will be the 8th District for United States House of Representative race.
Also, starting tomorrow (May 1st), we will allow any person who would like to send us a “Letter to the Editor” asking our readers to vote for your favorite candidate.  We will put the “Letters to the Editor” in this section and post them without opinion, editing or bias.
SPONSORED BY DEFENSE ATTORNEY IVAN ARNAEZ. DON’T GO TO COURT ALONE.
CALL IVAN ARNAEZ @ 812-424-6671.
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IS IT TRUE the U.S. economy slowed in the first quarter to one of the weakest paces of the five-year recovery as the frigid winter appeared to curtailed business investment and weakness overseas hurt exports?…gross domestic product, the broadest measure of goods and services produced across the economy, advanced at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.1% in the first quarter, the Commerce Department said Wednesday?…economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had forecast growth at a 1.1% pace for the quarter?…the second quarter has started out as a flatliner with neither upward growth or hiring making news?…the good news is that there is not any bad news either?…we seem to be trying to run in place economically despite a need for growth to absorb the 6% of the population that has given up even looking for work or found ways to survive off the grid and outside of the brotherhood of taxpayers?
IS IT TRUE we are pleased this morning to see that at least one other news outlet is noticing the fact that the 2012 audit of the City of Evansville and the Sewer and Water Department have not yet been released by the State Board of Accounts?…as we stated Monday we do have it on high authority that both of these audits will be ADVERSE OPINIONS which are basically the worst opinion that an audit can possibly be?…as details emerge we will publish them whether the State of Indiana releases this information that the taxpayers paid for and have a right to see?…it would be highly irregular for even a word to be changed in an audit that was completed through the exit interview phase nearly two months ago so there is no justifiable reason for the SBOA to withhold it from the public?…one of the STATEHOUSE MOLES tells us that problems have been identified in the areas of payroll and pensions and that the books do not reconcile through this audit period?…this is counter to the words that have come from the Civic Center?…one might even say it is an ADVERSE OPINION?
IS IT TRUE a retired couple named Alvin and Pam Harris have opened a non-profit fresh produce store in Evansville’s inner city?…lack of access to fresh produce has been identified as one of the key reasons that obesity has grown among the nation’s poor at an alarming rate during the last 30 years?…the CCO commends this couple and would like to do our part to help them along the road to success by donating an ad in the CCO to them for their first year of operation?…if anyone knows how to put us into touch with these good people please leave us a message in the comment section and we will take it from there?
IS IT TRUE on the national scene after the launch and last minute sign up frenzy for the ACA, President Obama’s approval rating has swung up and down but has seemed to settle in a range that is in the 41% – 43% range for nearly 2 full months?…the disapproval rating has similarly settled in to the low 50’s according to the Real Clear Politics averages of 9 polls?…of course the only reason people are interested in the President’s ratings as he can’t run again are to try to predict what the outcome of the Senate election is likely to be?…the range of non-partisan predictions now is that the Republicans will be picking up from 4 to 7 seats?…that will point to either an equal split in the Senate or a thin Republican majority which would alter the balance of power that the Democrats have enjoyed for 6 years now?…there is much water left to go under the bridge and we are sure that several candidates will find a way to destroy their own candidacy between now and November?
IS IT TRUE that we were reminded yesterday in an email from a close friend of George Orwell’s famous quote on journalism?…this quote is “Journalism is publishing what someone else does not want published. Everything else is just public relations.”?…the City County Observer has been willing to “fight like the dickens” to do that for the past four years?…as long as we possess the courage to do this it is this writers belief that growth will continue and respect will be gained?…should we waver from this fundamental principle we will have little reason to exist?
