Burdette Barbecue, Bands and Brew – Sept. 28 @ 1:00pm
Evansville’s Celebration of Diversity Distinguished Lecture Series featuring Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy (Blindside movie) – Oct. 1 @ 7:00pmGhost Brothers of Darkland County – Oct. 17 @ 7:30pmAn Evening with Third Day – Oct. 20 @ 7:00pmDisney Live! Three Classic Fairy Tales – Oct. 27 @ 12:00pm & 3:00pmMerle Haggard – Oct. 29 @ 7:30pmCMT On Tour: Hunter Hayes Let’s Be Crazy Tour – Nov. 8 @ 7:00pm
On Friday, October 11, 2013, the Reitz Class of 1960 will gather at Howell Shelter House on Barker Avenue for food, fellowship and fun!!! A very nice catered meal will be served at 5:00 pm. Sodas and water will be provided.
The West Side Nut Club Fall Festival is in full swing on the day of our reunion, and Reitz will be playing Bosse in the bowl at 7:00 pm. Many activities on this day, but be sure to make your way to the reunion.
The shelter house will open at 3:00 pm and stay open until 11:00 pm. We are planning to have Karaoke, so bring your favorite disc or song to sing for us. A PA system will be available for announcements, introductions of classmates, and the reading of our “Deceased†list.
We plan to take casual class photos outside immediately after dinner, so bring your best smiles. It was so nice seeing many new classmates last year.
The following classmates are still on our “Lost†list: Linda Dennis Bush, Ellis Fields, Brenda Frost McNew, James Harralson, Michael Todd, Larry Toole, Barbara Harralson Townsend, Rita Harrington Cardin, and Jerry Callis. If you have information on any of these classmates please call:
Sue Roberts Albin (812) 985-5072 or Don Counts (812) 422-1792
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
DATE: Friday October 11 2013 PLACE: Howell Shelter House – Barker Avenue
IS IT TRUE City Councilman and Chairman of the Finance Committee John Friend, CPA has released his list of things that need to be made available to properly VET the deal that Mayor Winnecke and the Evansville Redevelopment Commission have made with HCW of Branson, MO to develop a hotel complex in downtown Evansville?…Councilman Friend took it a step further and also issued a protocol for VETTING that includes 20 steps?…it is now up to the Mayor’s office to respond and provide Friend with whatever they have and to gather up the other items in the instance that they do not have what Friend has asked for?…with a 20 step process and some very sophisticated analysis that needs to be done it is all but impossible to do this by the scheduled vote next Monday night?…keeping the information in committee until the VETTING has been completed is Councilman Friend’s prerogative and may actually make the passage of some deal for a hotel a higher probability?…one thing for sure is that if the Mayor’s dog and pony shows had secured 5 “AYE†votes the response to Councilman Friend’s request for information for VETTING would have been met with the same silence it has so far?…this could have started in early August if the Winnecke Administration and HCW would have only cooperated with the justified requests of the Chairman of the City Council’s Finance Committee?…it seems as though there has been contempt for the City Council coming from the Mayor’s office until they finally have accepted that they need to provide this to get closer to what they want?…there are only 2 or 3 members of the City Council locked in to an “AYE†vote based on the dog and pony shows?…it takes 5 to tango?
IS IT TRUE there is an allegation going around that certain officers of the Dunn Hospitality Group have put the Museum on notice that their charitable donations will cease if the Museum board and staff openly support the granting of $37.5 Million for a new downtown convention hotel?…we have not confirmed that this is true but would like to discuss the relationship between charities and their large donors?…large donors in nearly every case are people or corporations of significant wealth who for their own reasons choose to give money to charities?…charities such as the Museum and many others are dependent on the generosity of private contributions?…Dunn Hospitality has been very clear that it is their well researched belief that subsidizing a competitor will hurt their business which will necessarily lead to the diminishment of their wealth, their profits, and their cash flow?…the boards of directors of Museums and other charities need to realize that when they make the conscious choice to support programs that hurt their large donors that those large donors can be expected to be disappointed and are fully within their rights to withhold future donations?…charities need to get off of their idealistic high horses and avoid biting the hands that feed them?…if the allegations about the Museum and Dunn are indeed true, who could blame Dunn Hospitality for cutting the Museum from their philanthropic budget?
IS IT TRUE that the closest Division 1 NCAA football team to Evansville, the Louisville Cardinals are expected to win all of their games in 2013?…after dismantling the SEC powerhouse Florida Gators in last year’s Sugar Bowl the Cards have been ranked in the top 10 for the first time ever at the beginning of the season?…pundits are saying their schedule is too weak to be considered for the National Championship game and they have a point, but the missing piece that is not widely discussed is that the Louisville strength of schedule is better than either #2 Ohio State or #3 Oregon?…it will be interesting to see how things work out for Louisville if they go 12 – 0 with the pollsters and the computer rankings?…it was November 13, 1948 that the University of Evansville Purple Aces defeated the Louisville Cardinals in a football game by a score of 18 – 6?…the rise of the Cardinals and the disappearance of the Aces from football playing schools is one of the symptoms of the difference in a city with a goal, focus, a plan, and commitment of its citizens when compared to one that does not?…imagine the possibility that if Evansville would have done things more like Louisville that there could have been 56,000 people in the stands last Sunday to watch a 49 – 7 victory over a gridiron foe?
IS IT TRUE that August was the highest traffic month for the CCO for any non election month since we began counting our traffic using Google Analytics?…our traffic is now solidly above a Million per year and the unique visitors from Vanderburgh County are well over 100,000 per year?…this is about 400% higher than when our counting started in October of 2010?
Letter to Brad Devael with Crowe Horwath from John Friend, CPA Chairmen of the City of Evansville Budget Committee
Brad,
City Councilman John Friend
The following is background to my best knowledge and requested procedures. Â Please call me to discuss.
Per our conversation with Ted Ziemer, City Attorney for Evansville, IN, the Common Council of Evansville, IN, in which I’m Finance Chairman, will be deciding whether to go forward with a downtown convention hotel. We have selected HCW Developers, LLC to be the group to make this happen. However, during my discussions and review of the administration’s procedures, it appears that a business plan was not prepared which would have included imperative information. As such, missing in the process are pro forma’s over a five year period of time, income statements, cash flows, balance sheets, presumably, the ramping up period coinciding with our development and management agreement. We did receive an income statement plus add backs for depreciation and interest at the stabilization period, but, do not have any idea when and how they achieve stabilization and lacks assumptions and assertions, except for average daily rate and capacity
HCW, to the best of my knowledge, has twelve motels/hotel. The crown jewel is Branson Landing, located in Branson, MO. This hotel is touted as a full service hotel, with retail shops, and associated condos. It appears that this development came on line in 2005/2006. Apparently, Branson issued TIF bonding in the amount of $18,500,000. Five of the assumed twelve, are level one motels, under the flag of Value Places. These units cater to extended stays, $149 per week customers. They have two Hampton Inns, one each in Scottsdale, AZ and Tucson, AZ, and a Hilton Garden Inn, located in Manhattan, KS. In addition, their website indicates 4,000 rental units, however, during their presentation to Council, they touted 6,000 units. Also, they indicated that the oldest motel/hotel has been in operations for eight years and they had fourteen operations. [concerns about rapid growth, under-capitalization].
Agreed Upon Procedures:
A. Determine the total number of entities [brother/sister] associated with HCW and their principals.
B. Determine the principals in each entity.
C. Evaluate the debt structure of the entities terms, conditions, covenants and etc.
D. Evaluate the construction budget of the Branson Landing project vs. the Actual, including the timetable, together with the Hilton Garden Inn.
E. Evaluate the performance of the Branson Landing operations from opening day to the present, including the amount, if any, of capital injection during the period and cap-x [debt v equity] Determine additional subsidies by any governmental unit beyond the TIF, together with the Hilton Garden Inn.
F. Review the income tax returns of the principals, emphasis on required sources of income and K-1 activity
G. Review personal financial statements, (purpose to determine depth of free capital) of principals.
H. Review the five year pro forma’s of our project compared to the actuals of Branson Landing to determine a baseline over the first five years. Determine the  assumptions and assertions[pro forma’s needs to be line item detailed].
I. Spread the financial data of all entities in the determination of global EBITDA and the  Debt Coverage ratios.  In this process, emphasis on Branson Landing compared to Industry Standards [RMA comparisons plus others].  Common-size the historical financials in the process. Separate the results of operations, i.e. rental, condo sales, motel/hotel, and retail, if applicable.
J. Determine that the principals and the associated entities have free capital to inject into the Evansville project and adequate reserves to meet the provisions of the city’s agreement relative to over-budget issues.
K. Regards to the above, review documentation relative to performance bonding.
L. Determine the entities structure of ownership, individuals, other LLC’s and the dates of organization.
M. Inquire into any pending or threatening  litigation against any of the entities and principals
N. Review other sources of inquiry, such as Dunn-Brad Streets reports.
O. Â Determine if any surety has encountered claims and defaults involving any of the above entities and principals.
P. Determine the exactness of the total rental units and motel/hotel units and the flags that they fly.
Q.  Determine entity by entity debt/equity ratios and all other pertinent ratios expected in the RMA comparison. Emphasis on Branson Landing.
R. Manhattan, KS – place emphasis on this project – Construction Budget v. Actual – ramping up to stabilization.
S.  Determine the final debt structure of the Evansville project,i.e. recourse v. non-recourse financing. CEO indicated non recourse financing at the conclusion of construction and injection of REIT financing.
T. Determine if any particular entity is considered insolvent [bankruptcy] together with any principal.
Required Data:Â
1. All associated entities’ audited/reviewed financial statements for the past five years. Except for Branson Landing, need from inception to present. [No in-house Financials].
2. All Federal Income Tax filings from those entities and 1040 on the principals over the same period.
3. Loan documentation on the debt structure in the global.
4. Signed Representation Letter from Mr. Richard Huffman, CEO that all information provide is complete and accurate to the best of his knowledge…the Council will leave this to Crowe’s discretion.
5. Current personal financial statements.
6. Five years pro forma’s, income statement, cash flow statements, and balance sheets, together with assumptions and assertions. Detailed by line items.
7. Copy of executed agreement between HCW and the City of Evansville, IN
8. Original Construction budgets in detail and depreciation schedules of Branson Landing and Hilton Garden Inn.
As we discussed, the Common Council will be the client. Our organization will be conferring with the President of the Council, Ms Connie Robinson, VP Dr. H. Dan Adams, and myself, Finance Chair. In regards to proprietary information, I will be executing a confidentiality agreement with the principals of all direct and indirect entities. Assurances have been given to Mr. Ziemer in this regard. As a practicing CPA/CVA, I every much aware of the extreme sensitivity of this form of information. Without this agreement, this engagement most likely will be hindered in obtaining conclusions about going forward under the current condition. Obviously, our President and VP will not execute the confidentiality agreement and, thus proprietary information will remain with only the Finance Chair.
We need this engagement to be concluded as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
John E. Friend Finance Chairman Common Council of Evansville, IN
I am writing to ask our community to just listen. The city council is a public forum where people come to watch our local legislative body carry out the business of governing our city. It is also a place where local citizens come to voice their concerns about the direction of our city.
On August 26, the Concerned Clergy went before city council so that members of the Evansville City Council could hear some of the citizen’s concerns relative to the Evansville Police Department. It was to allow citizens of Evansville to speak in a public forum about their interaction with the police.
It was an opportunity for the Mayor, Police Chief and city council members and citizens of Evansville to listen to the voices of people who felt like they have no recourse. The first three law abiding individual speakers had filed complaints with EPD Internal Affairs and were told either nothing could be done or were told nothing. The presentations made by others were not asked by the Concerned Clergy to speak but because this was an open forum they were allowed to voice their concerns as well. Most were critical of the treatment received by the police officers. Others called for those in the center city to do more to help themselves. I listened and learned.
It was an opportunity for the Police Chief without denigrating the rank and file to say I hear your concerns and we will continue to strive to do better. It was a time to listen to a group of taxpayers who want an acceptable level of courteous service.
Now here we are calling each other racist and bigots. The truth is that most of the complaints I have received came from white citizens. There is this pattern in this community to call principled people out of their names when you disagree. Listening to people is helpful because it makes us better. It should not make us bitter.
I am a Christian servant in the community. I believe that to make a difference in a community you must serve whenever the opportunity is given. I could pretend that our community is a utopia and not speak truthfully about its problems. The fact is that if we want a better community then you have to work toward that goal. That means sometimes listening to what you may not want to hear.
I was talking to an elderly Christian gentleman years ago and he offered me some constructive criticism that I did not want to hear. Initially it hurt my feelings but I took his advice and it served me well.
There are few people in the community that have been as supportive of the police as I have. I was disheartened by the request made by the FOP, but I listened to their conversation and I made a decision to continue to serve on the Police Merit Commission. The FOP has a right to speak their minds, but is it wrong for those who pay their salaries to not be able to speak as well?
I would encourage our entire community to do what Detective Larry Nelson; president of the FOP encouraged me to do. Mr. Nelson said I should look into the mirror of my soul. I think we all should take his advice.
I did that Mr. Nelson, in 1968 and I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior. I accepted the call to preach in 1980. It is because of my salvation experience that I have sought to mentor, house, educate, and redevelop the center city while pastoring, and providing support to my family. I looked in the mirror and felt the need to help the poor and to give voice and hope to the disinherited in our city. I looked in the mirror and I saw a need to serve on civic, not-for-profit and corporate boards of directors. Whether I am on the police merit commission or not, I have served and I will continue to serve. This is what I was called by God to do. I would strongly encourage you the FOP to heed the scripture warning in I Chronicles 16:22 and Psalms 105:15.
Finally, if you listen to the created voicemail presented by the FOP, you will hear an invitation to speak from your heart. It is my hope that our community will grow from this present moment. All we have to do is listen and strive to do better. So that someday a Providential voice will commend all of us who have served well. That will be the day when you hear, “Well Done Thy Good and Faithful Servant.â€
Until then, let’s just listen and serve!
Rev, Adrian M. Brooks, Sr. 605 Canal Street Evansville, IN 47713
I hope your having as good a time at the Lake as possible given all the stuff on your mind——and ours. I’m very anxious to recieve your lists so we can go over them and make comment to you. If we’re to meet our time frame, it’s absolutely essential that we have the agreed list with Crowe Horwath first thing Tuesday morning and with HCW (for the purpose of gathering the required information) even prior to that. I’ve been in the office all day and am going home. I’ll be down hear around noon tomorrow
and would hope I’ll have your lists to review and forward by that time.
Thanks. Ted
Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.
Ziemer, Stayman,Weitzel & Shoulders, LLP
From Councilman Friend to Ted Ziemer
Ted,
I’m working on the agreed upon procedures to submit to Crowe. Will have them to Brad in the a.m. Please note that the HCW group will have to allow Crowe to discuss freely the results of operations of all entities and their personal financial position of the principles. I WILL EXECUTE A CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT. Without this, this exercise will be fruitless. I will be expecting audited financial statements for the all brother/sister entities, personal financial statements of the principles, global EBITDA requests, just to name a few items. By the way, it is totally unrealistic to assume that this process will be completed before September 9th. What is utterly amazing is that this should have been the FIRST THING this administrations should have completed months ago, and NOW just days before this council’s vote, we are rushed to conclusion. The editor of the Courier and Press may thinks so, and this administration may think so, but, ultimately the voters of this City will determine the correct course of action.
IS IT TRUE that the Civic Center Moles have been working overtime this weekend and have unearthed a tidbit that the City County Observer and the people of Evansville who support rational investment decisions and transparency have been demanding for a couple of months now?…it seems as though the powers that be in the Office of the Mayor are finally taking the threat to hold the HOTEL deal in committee and the very real possibility that the VOTES ARE NOT THERE TO PASS IT as the reality that the CCO has known for a good long time seriously?…in the face of what is certainly an unexpected and unwelcome reality that this is not the cakewalk they were hoping for Councilman John Friend’s request for a “GRANT APPLICATION†is about to get a response?…we have it on good authority that City Attorney Ted Ziemer is burning the midnight oil to put together the documents that he has that will possibly meet the requirements for VETTING that Councilman Friend has been asking for all summer?
IS IT TRUE the vote on this hotel in its present form is scheduled for one week from today?…VETTING a package of this magnitude is not a fast process so assuming that the Mayor’s office delivers a complete “GRANT APPLICATION†from HCW may not be completed by September 9th’s vote?…as we and others have demanded the vote should not be held until after the budget hearings have been completed AND until after the results of the 2012 audit are made public?…only after these two things are on the table can learned people made a cognizant decision to move forward with any grant to a hotel developer?…if the YES votes were in place today to pass this GRANT, the Mayor would not have disclosed any of this information?…it is pretty common knowledge that there are still two members of the City Council who have not yet expressed a position on this GRANT and that the vote if held today would be 4 – 3 with a coin flip deciding the leader?…the hard line locked in vote is now 3 – 3?…after 6 town hall meetings and the mood of the city fractured this little game of tic-tac-toe is heading for a single vote margin that is anyone’s guess?…that is why the Office of the Mayor has finally gotten in the mood for VETTING?…the dog and pony show did not work as planned?
IS IT TRUE it was revealed last week that the downtown TIF collected only $6.9 Million in 2012 and spent $8.4 Million which is unsustainable?…it was also revealed and reported that the same downtown TIF will have expenses in 2013 of $18.4 Million due to the Ford Center lease of $10 Million per year for 26 years?…there is no way the TIF will collect that much money in 2013 but does have a rainy day fund accumulated of just under $8 Million meaning the TIF will have about $15 Million available in 2013?…we are trying to learn where the other $3.4 Million will come from and where the $11.5 Million shortfall in 2014 will be coming from?…bondholders must be paid and when the TIF does not have the means there is a backup plan that involved tapping taxpayer dollars?…we hope to be able to report these sources to you in the near future as the WOLF IS NOW AT THE DOOR, and former Mayor Weinzapfel’s revenue expectations for Ford Center just has not happened according to that dog and pony show?
IS IT TRUE that the CCO would like to commend Courier and Press editor Tim Etheridge on his editorial about the “golden opportunity†as we called it that the outcry from the African American community has handed the EPD?…it is good to be in agreement with the CP that this form of negative feedback is a time to change the status quo to raise the level of life in Evansville?…the other editorial by an unnamed author in the CP that the City Council should end the nonsense and “just build it†mimicked the head in the sand article from “Our Times†from a week ago?…the CP editorial chose to get on board with the party line that vetting is not necessary and that tax money should be thrown at a hotel in whatever magnitude is required?…the article was full of errors and should be an insult to the thinking class of Evansville?…we are glad that the Office of the Mayor has seen the light and is about to get on the “Just VET it†program no matter how much reality it took to get them there?
The University of Evansville’s College of Arts and Sciences will kick off its 2013-14 Andiron Lecture Series next week with a discussion of a UE faculty member’s molecular research conducted at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Established in 1982, the Andiron Lectures in the liberal arts and sciences offer stimulating research, commentary, and reflection from many fields of study. Presenters are primarily drawn from the faculty of UE’s College of Arts and Sciences but also include faculty members and administrators from across the University campus and contributions from the regional community.
The Andiron Lectures are free and open to the public. Each of the following lectures will begin at 4 p.m. in Eykamp Hall (Room 252) in the Ridgway University Center.
• September 4, 2013: “Talking to Molecules with Lasers: A Sabbatical at MIT,†presented by Bryan Lynch, UE professor of chemistry
• October 2, 2013: “The Medieval Islamic World and China,†presented by Anya King, assistant professor of history at the University of Southern Indiana
• November 6, 2013: “Literary and Cultural Identities in the Vietnamese Francophone Novel,†presented by Roger Pieroni, chair of UE’s Department of Foreign Languages and associate professor of French
• February 5, 2014: “Implications of Christian Ideology on Multicultural Education in Public Schooling,†presented by Vincent Harper, co-founder of Harper Educational Resources Incorporated and former UE assistant professor of education
• March 5, 2014: “The Classical Guitar in Evansville,†presented by Eduardo Mendoza-Santiago, a Classical Guitar Society of Evansville performer who is completing his doctoral degree from the University of Minnesota
• April 2, 2014: “Talk Religious to Me: Why Sacred, Soul, and Spirituality are No Longer Dirty Words in Higher Education,†presented by Tamara Gieselman, University chaplain
The Andiron Lectures are sponsored by the University of Evansville College of Arts and Sciences and supported by a generous gift from Donald B. and Jean Korb.
Dr. Garret Merriam, assistant professor of philosophy, is the 2013-14 H. Lee Cooper Core Curriculum Teaching Award winner. The Cooper Award honors a University of Southern Indiana faculty member whose teaching in University Core Curriculum courses has been especially creative and successful in furthering UCC goals.Merriam joined USI’s College of Liberal Arts in 2008. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy and English from the University of California at Davis, and a Master of Arts degree and a Ph.D. from Rice University in Houston, Texas.
Merriam’s desire to teach dates to his first day of college, when he was captivated by his professor’s lecture in an introductory philosophy class. “It was both exactly what I was looking for and unlike anything I’d experienced in school before,†he said. “There hasn’t been any other career that I’ve seriously entertained since.â€
Merriam began teaching as an adjunct instructor of philosophy at Houston Community College and Lone Star College (formerly Kingwood College). As a doctoral student at Rice University, he moved on to teach courses in such diverse topics as philosophy of religion, moral and legal issues, ethics, and problems of philosophy. For Merriam, philosophy was a rewarding choice; in his words, “I get to put my students in conversation with some of the greatest minds in history, to challenge them to confront the most vexing problems that we face as a species, as a culture and as individuals, and to push them to come up with their own ways of continuing that conversation and addressing those problems. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?â€
Since joining the faculty at USI, Merriam has served on the Faculty Senate and numerous other University committees and councils, and has advised student clubs including the Philosophy Club, the Vegetarian Club, and the Secular Student Alliance. He has taught many philosophy courses, ranging from introductory-level to advanced, and developed the Department of Philosophy’s first online UCC course. Earlier this year, Merriam received the USI Foundation’s 2012-13 Outstanding Teaching by New Faculty Award.
In the classroom, Merriam supplements standard lectures and class discussions with one-on-one meetings with students, as well as more creative methods. “I’m a big believer in the use of humor as a didactic tool,†he said. “I have used my YouTube channel as well, experimenting with the ‘flipped class’ method, where the students watch the lecture at home and the in-class time is dedicated to discussion and group work, but I’m still in the early stages of implementing that.†Merriam’s YouTube channel has over 11,000 subscribers.
In addition to his enthusiasm for teaching and concern for student outcomes, Merriam also derives a personal sense of satisfaction from being an educator. “Teaching is a remarkably ‘present’ experience,†he said. “Whatever else is going on in my life, whatever worries or problems may be weighting on me, they’re all set aside when I’m in front of the classroom.â€
Merriam, in his fifth year of teaching at USI, has taught over 100 students in UCC courses in the B1 Ethics area each semester. In one of several nominations of Merriam for the award, a colleague wrote, “I suspect that few tenure-track or tenured faculty have taught more Core students or classes over the same period. The time and energy that Dr. Merriam puts into his classes and students is truly astonishing. To give that kind of individualized attention to his students is impressive, especially given that he normally teaches well over 100 students each semester. Dr. Merriam regularly receives numerous incredibly positive student comments as well. His teaching evaluations are some of the best I have ever seen.â€
The Cooper award is named in honor of H. Lee Cooper, a long-time friend and supporter of USI. The award was officially presented at the Fall Faculty and Administrative Staff Meeting on August 20. It includes a generous stipend, a plaque, and additional monies for travel and related faculty development.
As this year’s winner, Merriam will deliver a presentation to the University community during the 2013-14 academic year. Details will be released at a later date.
