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Councilman Friend Attacks Foes Public Statements About Councils Increasing 2014 Budget By 22%.

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Councilman John Friend, CPA: The man whose petition started the movement that led to teh NO VOTE for the Vectren fee
Councilman John Friend, CPA:

Connie,

There has been some confusion regarding our supposedly increase in the City Council budget. Obviously, there are some on council that do not have the proper knowledge in interpreting the sources of our funding. In order to properly interpret  our budget, one has to derive the total funding from two locations. The first is Fund 4 account number 1011401 and second is fund 907 account number 4745801. For everyone convenience, I have attached copies of those sources. As such, please note that account 1011401 for 2013 was $476,163 and account 4745801 for 2013 was $125,500, totaling $601,663 for 2013.  In review of the 2014 budget, account 1011401 for 2014 is $583,091.60 and account 4745801 for 2014 is now only $15,000, totaling $598,091.60 for 2014.

Now, I assume that everybody can do this simple math problems: $598,091.60, total budget for 2014 less $601,663.00 total budget for 2013 = $-3,571.40 Divided by $601,663.00 total for 2013 = .59% decline in our budget for 2014. So, if anybody voted against the overall budget due to an alleged 22% increase, please consult the finance chair prior to the vote next time.  As I recall, I made it a point to contact each and everyone of you the Monday afternoon before council  asking  if you had any concerns and nothing about our supposedly increase in the City Council budget was mentioned. I regret if any  of your constituents were mislead by not understanding the proper sources of our budget.

Why the administration chose to confuse the issue by transferring the normal funding from account 4745801 to 1011401 and the result, confusion to the masses, only they can answer.

In the future, please do not hesitate to consult with me regarding any aspect of our budget.

John Friend, CPA

5th Ward City Council Member and Budget Chairman

 

Click below to open budget  documents  then you may print it out for review:

City Council Budget – 2014 copy 2

POSTED BY CITY COUNTY OBSERVER WITHOUT BIAS, OPINION AND OR EDITING

 

 

Louisville Basketball Raked in $35 Million last Season.

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UL Cardinal
An ESPN report published Friday labels the Louisville Cardinals that made $35 Million in profit last year as “unquestionably the nation’s wealthiest men’s basketball program” in the country based upon that figure.

U of L generated its cash during the 2012-2013 season much in part because of the nation’s third-highest attendance, coupled with 71 luxury suites at the KFC Yum! Center and $20 million in donations.

The Yum! Center’s capacity is third in the nation among college basketball programs at 22,090, and last season U of L filled it to near capacity for every game. Ticket sales generated $25.8 million of the total revenue, according to ESPN, which received information from the U.S. Department of Education.

Since moving into the new downtown arena, the Cardinals “have delighted their accountants just as much as their rabid fans,” wrote ESPN’s Igor Guryashkin.

On their way to the program’s third national title, the Cardinals profited on average $1.35 million per home game, well ahead of 2nd place North Carolina’s $936,000. Kentucky, which generated $21.6 million with $15.1 million in expenses, is sixth on that list at $360,000 in profits per home game.

The $35 million profit last year represented an increase from $27 million during the 2011-2012 season, according to ESPN.

The rich are also about to get richer, with the Atlantic Coast Conference’s TV deal paying $17 million to teams per year, as compared to the $3 million U of L received from the Big East Conference, according to ESPN.

Said ESPN’s Guryashkin: “Louisville has the financial clout to make even some NBA executives envious.”

Open House for new storage building

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Evansville-Police_LOGOWe will be holding an “open house” for media reps to get a look at our new storage building. It is located at Indiana and 3rd. The walk through will be at 2:30 today. All media outlets are welcome.

Fall Taxes DUE

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image001-2Tuesday, November 12th is the deadline to pay taxes.  Monday is a holiday although we will be open for business. As you know, tax bills are only mailed in the spring with a coupon for the fall tax payments. Just a friendly reminder!!!

Experiences Flower Pot Meeting

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Experiences 
Flower Pot Meeting
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Tin Man Brewing Company
2nd floor
5:30 p.m.
Leadership Evansville Executive Director Lynn Miller Pease will host the first VOICE meeting on the topic of “Experiences.” Every interested citizen, organization, or business is invited to share their knowledge and passion to begin collaborative planning and actions on this topic. At this meeting, participants will:

-        Discuss what “Experiences” are currently happening in our community

-        Identify low hanging fruit in this area that they would be able to actively do now

-        Share topics participants know are coming up in the near future and long term
What is Experiences?
  •   Evansville residents recognize that there are a variety of opportunities to engage with their city and want to highlight, showcase, and celebrate them in a more organized and collective way! Also, bring fresh, new opportunities for citizens to intensively experience with the goal of creating a demand for these experiences to remain in our community.
RSVP: voice@evansvillevoice.com| 812-425-3828

VANDERBURGH COUNTY FELONY CHARGES

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nick herman

 

Below is a list of felony cases that were filed by the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office on Friday, November 01, 2013

 

Teri Bright                           Possession of Methamphetamine-Class D Felony

Possession of Paraphernalia-Class A Misdemeanor

 

Tamara Iglesias                 Maintaining a Common Nuisance-Class D Felony

 

Micki Mayo                        Attempted Obtaining a Controlled Substance by Fraud or Deceit-

Class D Felony

 

Lee Stokes                          Dealing in Marijuana-Class D Felony

Maintaining a Common Nuisance-Class D Felony

(Habitual Substance Offender Enhancement)

 

Danielle Chase                 Strangulation-Class D Felony

                                                Domestic Battery-Class D Felony

Domestic Battery-Class A Misdemeanor

(Enhanced to D Felony Due to Prior Convictions)

 

Ronald Fenwick                Attempted Murder-Class A Felony

Unlawful Possession of a Firearm by a Serious Violent Felon-

Class B Felony

Criminal Confinement-Class B Felony

Criminal Recklessness-Class D Felony

Theft-Class D Felony

(Habitual Offender Enhancement)

 

Keven Murphy                  Theft-Class D Felony

 

 

 

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 considered to be innocent until proven guilty by a court of law.

 

IS IT TRUE

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IS IT TRUE that you should click the link below so you can look at pictures of mis-aliened baby grave stones at Locust Hill Graveyard?  …according to City of Evansville Graveyard Supervisor, Chris Cooke that location of the baby graves are located next to fence located on Kratzsville Road area in the back of graveyard?  …that Mr. Cooke told City Council members last week that the graves of babies were paved over because the city needed a road so visitors can to get around the graveyard?   …we want to stress that the decision to pave a road over babies graves happened before Mr. Cooke took his position?  …we feel the decision of the city to pave a road over the  graves of babies is grave desecration at its worst?  …that we hear that a group of concern citizens are planning to file a formal inquiry with State and Federal agencies to see if  laws were broken by the city when they paved over infant graves? …we thank Mr. Cooke for coming forward with the information concerning this issue?…..that we hope the state and federal officials will not require the city to exhume the baby coffins from under the road, cause this will cost the tax payers hundreds of thousands of dollars?….Is it true that City County Observer would like to thank Jordan Baer for providing us with this link so we can inform our readers concerning the gravestone problems at city owned cemeteries.

 

Click here to open link:

http://agraveinjustice.blogspot.com/2013/11/possible-headstones-for-baby-graves.html

IS IT TRUE November 4, 2013

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Mole #3 Nostradamus of Local Politics
Mole #3 Nostradamus of Local Politics

IS IT TRUE November 4, 2013

IS IT TRUE the City County Observer along with the City Council and the Office of the Mayor are sitting on pins and needles to see the results of the annual audit of the City of Evansville’s finances that have not been released yet?…the release of the audit is usually a late summer occurrence?…we are wondering what is taking so long?…good news that has political fallout is typically released early while bad news that has political fallout is delayed till the last minute and released on Friday afternoon so it is not widely read?…we will not be a bit surprised to find the same kinds of conditions attached to the 2012 audit as have been on the 2010 & 2011 audits?…the financial competence of the City of Evansville has in all likelihood not shown progress from the previous years and there may just be an outside source (SBOA) that takes issue with reconciliation?

IS IT TRUE those who are attacking certain members of the Evansville City Council for cutting things like Roberts Park from the budget in response to a shortfall in “boat money” really do not get it when it comes to responsible financial management?…this is not difficult to grasp?…the simple rule is “if you are aware that $2 Million is not coming in then you must cut $2 Million from the budget”?…with respect to the budget for Parks and Recreation there really does need to be a limited study done to learn what is the right amount to spend on maintenance of the number of parks and acres that Evansville has?…the commercial mowing market in Evansville for homes with 3 acres and higher to mow checks in at about $100 per mow?…yards need to be mowed and groomed about 30 times per year?…given those assumptions the mowing tab alone to keep the parks in residential condition should command a budget of $2.3 Million?…facilities maintenance and repair will add to that tab?…the first task should be to right size either the parks themselves or the budgets?…if we have a park system that should command a $25 Million budget with only $12 Million to do it with we need to either eliminate half of the parks or double the budget?…this should not be a difficult task to execute?

IS IT TRUE it seems as though there are readers of the CCO who believe that the City of Evansville has violated some state statutes by paving over the graves of babies?…the same rules cover adult graves but the fact that it is babies that were desecrated here sure makes it sound worse?…the condition of the cemeteries of Evansville is one of those things where budgets and needs are very far apart?…to get the public cemeteries into the same kind of condition as the private ones would take tens of millions of dollars that this poor city just does not have?…the legacy of negligence has Evansville facing giant bills for the sewer repairs, sidewalk replacement, parks modernization, dilapidated houses that number 10,000, and now the cemeteries that will command a price tag that will approach $2 Billion?…fixing all of this will take prioritization and time to go with that $2 Billion?…if the population does not start to grow and the wage base start to rise these civic responsibilities will never be capable of being met?…the formula for righting a sinking ship starts with right sizing, is followed by re-margining services, and followed by rational and sustainable growth?…today Evansville is in the pre right sizing stage?

IS IT TRUE that Insurance fraud occurs when any act is committed with the intent to fraudulently obtain some benefit or advantage to which they are not otherwise entitled or someone knowingly denies some benefit that is due and to which someone is entitled?… Securities fraud is a deceptive practice that induces investors to make purchase or sale decisions on the basis of false information, frequently resulting in losses?… offers of risky investment opportunities to unsophisticated investors who are unable to evaluate risk adequately and cannot afford loss of capital is a central problem?…the CCO predicts that calls for a criminal investigation of members of the team that lied to the American people for the purpose of securing the passage of the ObamaCare legislation will start soon?…if one accepts the fact that lies were told to secure support using promises of expanded coverage at lower costs and that the frequently asserted claim that “if you like your doctor and insurance policy you can keep them period” were known to be false at any time the claim was made that both insurance fraud and securities fraud have been perpetrated on the American people by their own government?

Don’t Succumb to Cyberchondria. Be Wary of Internet Self-Diagnosis

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Dr. Arnold

By

Roy M. Arnold MD

Is that headache a brain tumor? Are those muscle twitches Lou Gehrig’s disease? Is your thinning hair due to an over-active gland? Ask Dr. Google!  

Don’t get me wrong, I believe the internet is a marvelous thing. I use it daily to aid in my practice. Many persons who are experiencing unusual symptoms or feelings may use the internet to aid in self-diagnosis. Bear in mind that an internet search often may bring up the worst case scenario first. Take for example brain tumors. These are rare, occurring in about 1 out of 50,000 people. Yet research has shown that an internet search for “headache” brings up brain tumor 25% of the time. Motor Neuron Disease like Lou Gehrig’s disease occurs in 1 out of 14,000 people but a search for muscle twitching brings up numerous websites that list it as a major cause of twitching. Part of the problem is author bias. No one wants to write about caffeine withdrawal as a cause of headaches. Another part of the problem is the willingness of internet users to equate search rankings with likelihood.

An article published in 2008 by Eric Horvitz and Ryen White was the first systematic review of information about illnesses obtained from the internet. Subsequently the same authors have published 2 additional articles confirming that individuals who search the internet for medical information often don’t understand probability and the biases inherent in reporting on symptoms and construction of medical information.

Even more frustrating are those individuals who place greater weight on information obtained from a website than they do on advice from a health care professional. After all, “They can’t put anything on the internet if it isn’t true. Right?”

Most medical practitioners are open to discussing a patient’s research from reliable websites. This often leads to meaningful communication between patients and their practitioners. The information gathered from the internet can be discussed openly and be tempered by the practitioner’s knowledge and experience. It is vitally important that patients understand the two-way communication that must take place.

So if you are using the internet to research your medical condition, here are a few important tips:

  1. Search engine ranking has nothing to do with likelihood of you having a certain disease.
  2. Websites sponsored by well-known Centers of Excellence like the Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic or M.D. Anderson Cancer center are usually very reliable.
  3. Internet sites affiliated with Medical specialty societies like the American College of Cardiology, the American Academy of Neurology or the American College of Ob-Gyn are usually very reliable.
  4. Websites affiliated with national advocacy groups like the American Cancer Society, The American Heart Association or the Alzheimer’s Association are likely to contain more accurate information than those associated with less well known advocacy groups or with personal blogs.
  5. Websites associated with medical practitioners who also have their own television shows are often much less reliable.
  6. Websites sponsored by pharmaceutical manufacturers or other manufacturers of medical products are often biased in favor of that company’s products or the diseases their products treat.
  7. Individual blogs about certain conditions are often heavily biased and often filled with misinformation.
  8. News outlets such as newspapers, television or news compilation sites tend to sensationalize research results at the expense of providing meaningful information. Just how many things do brown vinegar or acai berries cure anyway?

Finally, maintain a healthy level of skepticism for anything portrayed as a “breakthrough,” “miracle cure,” or “weird trick.” They are invariably trying to sell you something.

If you are experiencing worrisome symptoms, by all means discuss them with your personal health provider and don’t hesitate to ask for a second opinion if you have doubts.

New EWSU video series and public education tools available to residents; neighborhood and community groups

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cityofevansville
Resources help inform the community about the long-term plan to improve Evansville’s sewers

The Evansville Water and Sewer Utility (EWSU) today unveiled a series of five educational videos and announced additional tools to help inform and educate residents about the City’s long-term capital improvement program to upgrade the City’s sewer system and comply with federal mandates.

The videos, housed on the Utility’s YouTube channel named “WatchEWSU”, feature EWSU professionals on location and include animated graphics to explain one of Evansville’s most important, yet unseen assets – its sewer system. Topics include:

  • ï‚·  What’s a CSO? – Watch the animated demonstration of combined sewer overflows and the pollution problems they pose for our waterways.
  • ï‚·  Renew Evansville – Engineers and Utility management discuss the government- mandated program driving Evansville’s proposed 28-year, $540 million plan to upgrade the City’s sewer system to comply with the Clean Water Act.
  • ï‚·  What’s Bee Slough and Why We Should Fix It – Take a look at Evansville’s unique sewer challenge along Veterans Memorial Parkway.
  • ï‚·  Maintaining Our Sewer System – A Valuable, Yet Unseen Asset – Evansville has a vast sewer system. See how the Utility is addressing needed repairs and maintenance, and upgrades to operations.page1image17984 page1image18144

 Investing in Evansville’s Sewer System – This video explains why sewer rates are increasing to help fund the mandated repairs associated with our City’s largest public works project.

Additionally, the Utility is committed to educating residents about Renew Evansville projects. Community groups, neighborhood associations and other civic organizations are encouraged to take advantage of other resources offered by the Utility, including:

  • ï‚·  A speakers bureau available to make presentations. Contact RenewEvansville@ewsu.com to schedule a speaker for your group.
  • ï‚·  A public website, www.RenewEvansville.com, that contains information about the agreement with federal and state regulators, the timeline for implementation, copies of many of the submissions the Utility has filed with the EPA since November 2010 and information for residents.
  • ï‚·  A variety of downloadable fact sheets and maps on Renew Evansville website’s Community Resources tab.
  • ï‚·  A series of short videos at www.youtube.com/WatchEWSU.
  • ï‚·  An active Twitter feed, @RenewEvansville, releasing breaking news and periodic

    updates.

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