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IS IT TRUE May 22, 2013

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

IS IT TRUE May 22, 2013

IS IT TRUE when Bob Warren was hired to run the Evansville Convention and Visitors Bureau after the scandalous way that his predecessor Marilee Fowler was treated by the Weinzapfel Administration and the Opus One party animals that made up the ECVB Board of Directors, the City County Observer came away impressed that Mr. Warren was a serious man with a head for numbers?…Mr. Warren proved his mathematical acumen once again when he held a meeting at the Mesker Zoo and announced that the $20 Million Roberts Stadium ball fields did not pencil out?…given our respect for Mr. Warren’s command of mathematics the CCO was shocked and amazed yesterday to read in the Courier and Press that Mr. Warren believes that adding a 253 room hotel to an already existing 3,727 rooms will increase the number of room nights sold by 40%?…this statement is not just improbable, it is physically impossible and could not come from the mind of a person who did an extensive analysis on the ball fields and pronounced them to be a bad investment complete with percentage analysis to the one hundredth of a percent?…there are only two possibilities for that statement and the first is that a mathematically challenged reporter for the Courier & Press misstated what Mr. Warren said?…it is also possible that the astute Mr. Warren has been in Evansville long enough to have lost his wits due to the consumption of Mayoral Kool-Aid that seems to cause people to exaggerate wildly about the benefits of fun and games projects?

IS IT TRUE the math behind the statement can easily be debunked as ridiculous as follows:

3,727 rooms x 365 days = 1,360,355 room nights available in Evansville now

1,360,355 x 58.7% occupancy = 798,528 room nights per year sold per year now

253 rooms x 365 = 92,345 room nights added by new hotel

92,345 / 798,528 = 11.6% increase in room nights at 100% occupancy

IS IT TRUE from here it gets really easy to see that to achieve the prediction attributed to Mr. Warren by the Courier Press the operator of a new downtown Convention Hotel would have to sell each and every room 3.46 times every day of the year?…a hotel cannot physically have 346% occupancy even in a sold out all of the time situation?…even the most aggressive of the proposals received by the City of Evansville assumed a 65% occupancy rate for the new hotel?…a difficult to achieve occupancy rate of 65% only would increase the number of room nights sold by 60,025 per year which corresponds to a 7.5% increase in room nights sold?…if Mr. Warren had claimed that the Centre would have 40% more people attending conventions that they currently have we could have gotten on board?…making absurd statements that are physically impossible like the statements Mr. Warren debunked about the ball field impact projections a few years ago destroy the credibility of the messenger?…when it comes to 40% more room nights we have got to conclude that the Courier & Press who supports most anything the Winnecke Administration tells them to in their zeal for a magnanimous quote put some dumb words into Mr. Warren’s mouth?…we invite Mr. Warren to release his documentation on the real impact of both the downtown Convention Hotel and the ball fields?…we will publish them without edit, opinion, or bias?

IS IT TRUE that the Vanderburgh County Republican Party is soliciting its members for donations to purchase a $25,000 booth to use at the Fall Festival?…that seems like an expensive booth but if their members respond positively we shall go by and buy a corn dog from them?…perhaps another good way to pay for the booth would be to reign in the excessive spending on fun and games by Republican Mayor Lloyd Winnecke?…that guy can polish off $25,000 taxpayer dollars before breakfast on non-essential projects while trying to delay essential projects like the sewer repairs as far into the future as he can?

EPD Activity Report: May 21, 2013

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EPD PATCH 2012

EPD Activity Report: May 21, 2013

Effects of Property Tax Caps & the Homestead Deduction

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GetAttachment
Beginning in 2009, state mandated property tax caps were implemented locally to provide tax relief to property owners in Vanderburgh County and the City of Evansville. These caps were set at 1%, 2%, and 3% of the gross assessed value, with the type of property dictating which cap each property receives. In 2012, the total reduction to property tax bills equaled nearly $10.5 million. In 2013, the number climbed to an estimated $22.5 million. This increase indicates that many more taxpayers are receiving either an increase to their tax cap credit or they are receiving a first-time credit on their bill. These credits are calculated after the tax rates have been certified by the state and given to the county auditor’s office, and represent revenue that cannot be collected and distributed to the taxing units which includes Vanderburgh County, the City of Evansville, the EVSC, the Levee Authority, Library, Airport Authority, Town of Darmstadt and township trustees.
Tax cap credits increased primarily due to an increase in tax rates throughout the city and county. For the first time since the caps have been in place, tax rates for residents within the city limits are over 3%. In the past, non-residential or commercial/industrial property within the city did not receive a tax cap credit because these properties were part of the 3% category, and the actual tax rate had been below 3%. For 2013, the tax rate within the city limits climbed above 3%, and resulted in credits in this category going from zero to over $5.3 million. The increased tax rates also affected those properties that received a homestead deduction within the city limits. Homes with an approximate assessed value above $100,000 received a cap credit on their bill. Last year, the assessed value threshold to receive a cap credit was $119,000. The increase within the city for the 1% tax cap category is $1.9 million for 2013. These two categories equal 60% of the overall increase to tax caps for 2013.
House Enrolled Act 1344-2009 also affected the tax caps. This law requires all Indiana homeowners who receive the homestead standard deduction to submit verification of their eligibility. Taxpayers with a homestead deduction on file in the auditor’s office received a Homestead Verification form, also known as the “Pink Form”, the last three years with their tax bill. This form required the taxpayer to provide certain information, sign off that they are the owner of record, and reside in their home as their principal place of residence. If this form was not received in the Auditor’s office by December 31, 2012, the homestead deduction was removed per statute, and the taxes due in 2013 reflected an increase accordingly. There are nearly 2,800 homestead deductions that were removed for 2013, which put them in the 2% tax cap category where they may have received additional tax cap credit. However, removing the homestead deductions increased the net assessed value for these properties, which could increase the tax base within the city and county, and help lower future tax rates.
The impact of tax caps beyond this year is difficult to predict without having total assessed values throughout the city and county and future budgets from each taxing unit. However, if property values increase and additional assessed value through the construction of residential, commercial and industrial property is created, coupled with reduced tax levies, overall losses due to tax caps could be reduced over time.

Evans School‏ Events

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EVSC

Second graders in Tracie Stafford’s class at Evans to learn about firefighting and ride on a fire truck; have cookout with Leadership Evansville

Tuesday, May 21, fire truck rides begin at 10 a.m.

Evans School

2727 N. Evans Ave.

This event is planned following ongoing leadership opportunities throughout the school year through Leadership Evansville and its servant leaders.

Wednesday, May 22

Evans 6th graders leave for Disney

6 p.m., Wednesday May 22

From Evans School Parking Lot

2727 N. Evans Ave.

Sixth graders at Evans school will leave Wednesday for a fun and educational opportunity at Walt Disney World.

Interviews available with Brynn Kardash, principal.

Visit by State Superintendent to Cedar Hall, Culver

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EVSC

Glenda Ritz, superintendent of public instruction, will be visiting two Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation Schools Wednesday morning to learn more about the EVSC’s Early Childhood Education Program.

9:30 a.m. Cedar Hall; 10:45 Culver Family Learning Center

Background:

9:30 a.m.: In the EVSC, she will first go to Cedar Hall Community School. B-roll and photo opportunities will begin around 9:45 a.m.

10:45 a.m.: She will also travel to Culver Family Learning Center where several different types of Early Childhood Programs exist, including special education and inclusion classrooms, and the Mind in the Making classroom.

The EVSC began offering PreK classes in 2010 for Title 1 qualifying families. Classes have grown throughout the corporation and the EVSC is beginning to see the results of the early learning taking place in preparing students to be ready for the educational opportunities in kindergarten. The EVSC funds Early Childhood through a variety of mechanisms, grant programs and other partnerships. The State of Indiana is one of just a handful of states that does not fund early childhood programs, and Supt. Ritz has indicated she wants to learn more about the importance of the early classes for children.

Recently, the EVSC has undertaken training with Mind in the Making. Mind in the Making is a new approach to how children learn, and is a way that teachers, parents, and others in a child’s life can help reinforce. The classroom at Culver is based from suggestions by Mind in the Making, and the book of the same name by Ellen Galinsky. Collaborating with top researchers in the science of childhood brain development for the past decade, she identifies seven life skills that help children reach their full potential and unleash their passion to learn. http://mindinthemaking.org/article/high_quality_preschool_for_all_what_its_so_important/

VANDERBURGH COUNTY FELONY CHARGES

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nick hermanBelow is a list of felony cases that were filed by the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office on Monday, May 20, 2013.

Lisa Douglas Dealing in a Schedule III Controlled Substance-Class B Felony

Dennis Grimm Jr Forgery-Class C Felonies (Two Counts)
Fraud-Class D Felonies (Two Counts)
Receiving Stolen Property-Class D Felony

Jackie Myers Possession of a Schedule III Controlled Substance-Class D Felony

Michael Phelps Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated Endangering a Person with a Passenger less than 18 Years of Age-Class D Felony

Richard Smith Attempted Battery by Means of a Deadly Weapon-Class C Felonies (Two Counts)
Criminal Recklessness-Class D Felonies (Three Counts)
Railroad Mischief-Class D Felony
Criminal Mischief-Class A Misdemeanors (Two Counts)

James Windham Theft-Class D Felonies (Two Counts)

Ryan Zehner Possession of Paraphernalia-Class A Misdemeanor
(Enhanced to D Felony Due to Prior Convictions)
Possession of Marijuana-Class A Misdemeanor
(Enhanced to D Felony Due to Prior Convictions)

Stacy Mayes Attempted Battery by Means of a Deadly Weapon-
Class C Felonies (Two Counts)
Criminal Recklessness-Class D Felonies (Three Counts)
Railroad Mischief-Class D Felony
Criminal Mischief-Class A Misdemeanors (Two Counts

Jesseka Steverson 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.

Elephant in the Room? The Problem of Prescription Drug Abuse By Roy M. Arnold, MD

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Dr. Arnold

Elephant in the Room? The Problem of Prescription Drug Abuse

By Roy M. Arnold, MD

A growing problem in the US, prescription painkillers accounted for 16,650 deaths in 2010, the most recent complete year for which statistics are available. Drug abuse overtook traffic accidents as a cause of death in 2009. Overdose deaths are only the tip of the iceberg. For every overdose death, there were 733 non-medical users of prescription painkillers, 108 persons with abuse or dependence, 26 Emergency Department visits for abuse or misuse and 10 hospitalizations for abuse or misuse of painkillers.

The most common types of prescription drugs abused are opioid painkillers like hydrocodone, found in Vicodin® or oxycodone found in Oxycontin®. Chronic opioid users account for $72.5 Billion in healthcare costs annually or 8.7 times the cost of non-users.

The United States accounts of 4.6% of the world’s population but consumes 80% of the world production of oxycodone and 99% of the world’s hydrocodone.

The most disturbing aspect of this situation is that many of the people who become addicted to prescription painkillers were initially prescribed these medications for legitimate medical conditions such as injuries or after surgery. Gradually, with frequent use, the opioid medications can cause tolerance, requiring ever increasing doses to achieve the same amount of pain control. Opioids can cause physical dependence with continuous use, often in fairly short periods of time. At this point, patients may experience very unpleasant withdrawal symptoms unless they continue taking the painkillers, even though the medical condition for which the drug was originally prescribed may have improved.

Frequently, persons who are addicted to painkillers may engage in drug-seeking behavior by visiting multiple physicians, or pharmacies, or by obtaining their drugs from non-medical sources. Anti-social behaviors such as theft or assault are not uncommon among persons with addictions. It is important to point out that the anti-social behavior is frequently a result of, not necessarily a cause of the disease of addiction. Most medical experts believe addiction is truly a disease caused by disordered neural pathways in the brain, not a weakness of character or poor willpower. One of the basic tenets of 12-Step recovery programs such as Narcotics Anonymous is the admission of powerless over the addiction.

Having realized out the magnitude of the problem, regulatory agencies and medical organizations are searching for solutions to the problem. Many state governments have established Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs requiring mandatory reporting by pharmacies of all controlled substances prescriptions to a central database. Such programs are currently active in 42 states including Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, Ohio and Michigan. These programs may be accessed by pharmacies or prescribers for the purpose of patient care, or by law enforcement conducting an investigation. These reporting systems are useful in identifying persons who use multiple prescribers, multiple pharmacies and in monitoring dosage and frequency of narcotic use.

Approximately 10 years ago, the US Food and Drug Administration approved a drug known as buprenorphine for the treatment of opioid addiction. This drug is a partial opioid agonist, meaning it has weak opioid properties. It does produce some of the effects of opioids like euphoria and respiratory depression. Taken in low doses, it can often enable opioid addicts to discontinue the use of other opioids without experiencing withdrawal. It is often combined with a narcotic antagonist to prevent its abuse by injection or inhalation. Prescription of this medication is limited to certain physicians and must be considered substitution therapy for opioid abuse not a “cure.” It simply replaces one opioid with another, much the same way methadone can be substituted for heroin. The use of buprenorphine alone without other treatment and social support systems like 12-Step programs does not address the underlying disease of addiction.

Most recently, professional organizations like Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing (www.supportprop.org) have published white papers urging prescribers to limit opioid prescriptions to no more than 90 days for non-cancer pain. The organization has also petitioned the FDA to change the labeling on oxycodone and hydrocodone to be used only for severe pain and only for 90 days. This petition which is still under consideration by the FDA has been endorsed by the Drug Enforcement Administration and advocacy groups like Public Citizen. (www.citizen.org)

The overall purpose of this article is to point out the magnitude of the problem of prescription drug abuse and explore alternatives to ongoing use or abuse. It also discussed some of the recent regulatory actions. Persons who believe they have a problem with prescription painkillers are encouraged to discuss the issue with their primary healthcare provider and to take advantage of the many treatment and recovery options which are available locally.

1 Prescription Drug Abuse and Overdose: Public Health Perspective (PDF) CDC’s Primary Care and Public Health Initiative, October 24, 2012
2 Ibid.
3 Avila, Jim and Murray, Michael. ABC News (online) April 20, 2011.

White House Chief of Staff invokes “birtherism” in response to scandal questions

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Carney invokes birtherism in response to scandal questions
By Rachel Weiner, Published: May 21, 2013 at 2:46

Struggling with a reporter about which Republican concerns are and are not legitimate, White House spokesman Jay Carney said that if reporters are going to ask about every issue, they should include President Obama’s birth certificate.
Carney was defending senior White House adviser Dan Pfeiffer, who on Sunday described the scandals Obama is dealing with as “partisan fishing expeditions.”

Carney argued that the focus on the Benghazi talking points was “provably and demonstrably political,” and that Republicans had made “outlandish statements” about the IRS targeting conservatives “and tried to politicize this right away.” When CBS News’ Major Garrett asked whether questions about the AP investigation were partisan, Carney acknowledged that Congress might have “legitimate questions” on that or other issues.

So Garrett followed up and asked if questions related to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’s fundraising for the Affordable Care Act were also legitimate. Carney grew irritated and responded by referencing conspiracy theories about the president’s birthplace.

“You know, we could go down the list of questions — we could say, what about the president’s birth certificate? Were that — was that legitimate?” Carney responded.
He went on to answer the question, saying that there was precedent for what Sebelius is doing and that it was within her authority “to encourage support for educational efforts related to health care.”

IS IT TRUE May 21, 2013

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

IS IT TRUE May 21, 2013

IS IT TRUE that it has been said that the speed bumps we encounter in life are an opportunity to build character and to practice our cleverness to get over them?…speed bumps or “humps” as some prefer to call them in the road were not designed to build character but simply to control speed in areas where driving slow has been deemed to be necessary enough to obstruct the drivers of cars on these certain streets?…while school drop offs may be an appropriate place to rattle a few fast drivers teeth most places that have speed bumps including neighborhoods end up being avoided as they are some of the most annoying impediments that modern traffic engineers have devised?…that any business that is in a speed hump zone that has a competitor in an area with no speed humps is going to lose my business?…the only commerce that really benefits from speed humps are tire shops that make a mint realigning the front end of cars that regularly are tormented by speed humps?…there are places for speed humps but most places are not among those?…speed humps are only appropriate when a sufficient number of people are in immediate and daily danger from law breaking unsafe drivers?…speed humps punish us all and abuse our cars just to catch a few obnoxious drivers?…one of those “techno cop” cameras in front of each school drop off would be cheaper to install than speed humps and would not loosen the molars of law abiding drivers?

IS IT TRUE that a pattern seems to be developing in the relationship between Mayor Winnecke and the Evansville City Council?…that pattern is oddly enough a Republican Mayor who just can’t seem to concoct enough proposals to spend massive sums of money on trivial things held in check or at least opposed by a Democrat City Council that sees Mayor Winnecke’s big spending ways as unnecessary and somewhat wasteful?…once again Evansville finds itself doing things diametrically opposite of the national trends where Democrats can’t tax and spend enough and Republicans claim the role of responsible spending?…it is a good thing Evansville does not have a micro-version of the Federal Reserve with a printing press or a Toy’s R Us credit card or we would all be in real trouble by the time Mayor Winnecke leaves office?…we have heard many comments that Mayor Winnecke is channeling his inner Obama when it comes to buying frivolous things and a small block of Evansville City Council members are channeling Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell?

IS IT TRUE the project of highest cost that has the Mayor and the City Council at odds with one another is the $53 Million Johnson Controls project that former Mayor Weinzapfel shoved down the people of Evansville’s throats without a vote in his last weeks in office?…he did that just before being invited to give a speech about “Smart Cities” within a month of being out of office by Johnson Controls?…we do not know what the former Mayor earned for that speech but we do know the City of Evansville is under contract to pay for it?…a clear majority of the City Council is against this and has instructed their attorney to appeal the approval ruling by the Indiana Utilities Regulatory Commission (IURC) hoping it is struck down?…if it is not struck down there is a high probability that the City Council will vote not to fund by a vote of 7 – 2 (the Weaver Mosby alliance is firmly in Mayor Winnecke’s pocket)?…the Mayor is then threatening to borrow the money through other sources and do it anyway once again carrying on the legacy and desire of his mentor Jonathan Weinzapfel?

IS IT TRUE a similar situation is brewing over the size and scope of whatever downtown Convention Hotel project is on the table today?…project support has been established for a project of $30 Million in the past but that project has morphed into a $70 Million project with retail, restaurants, apartments, and a parking tower thrown in as extras trying to replicate Branson Landing in Missouri?…we do not know what is going to happen but we do know Evansville is no Branson when it comes to being an entertainment capital?…Evansville is home to the World Championship of Cornhole though so keep those tourists on the edge of their seat and see if we can bring the World Championship of Rock, Paper, Scissors to town?

EPD Activity Report: May 20, 2013

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EPD PATCH 2012

EPD Activity Report: May 20, 2013

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