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IS IT TRUE January 24, 2013

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The Mole #??

IS IT TRUE January 24, 2013

IS IT TRUE the big day of Mayor Winnecke’s chosen hotel developer finally came and went yesterday complete with some very nice renderings that include a curved glass front, a residential tower, a parking garage, a storage building with retail space, and of course two new walk bridges to tie in the bridge to nowhere that is now standing?…no financial details were released yesterday and the only real action other than the spectacular media production was a unanimous approval of the Evansville Redevelopment Commission to begin negotiations with the developer?…there was a slip of the tongue that revealed neither of the other two proposals were deemed to be unacceptable for financing reasons?…one of the other bidders proposed using the same EB-5 financing that was the excuse for the elimination of Verville & Associates during the last round of bids and the other wanted the City of Evansville to own the whole kit and caboodle?…after 4 years and three failed choices the chances for a downtown convention hotel come down to only one qualified developer in the free world that has an interest in what Evansville is willing to give them to build a hotel complex?…it would seem given the passion among the political class of Evansville to build a hotel that HCW Development of Branson, MO is sitting in the cat bird’s seat in the forthcoming negotiation?

IS IT TRUE the renderings are quite appealing with the residential units being a new twist?…Browning had some very appealing renderings that even included a steakhouse named JW’s that were revealed in former Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel’s press conference in Innovation Pointe in 2008?…when that deal failed to materialize upstart Woodruff Hospitality had a nice set of 3-D renderings that got everyone’s interest piqued too?…when the Woodruff deal fell to pieces and the Kunkel Group won the next bid they produced a curved front rendering complete with a parking tower option that looked very much like the renderings released yesterday?…even Verville’s group put together a nice looking rendering and recruited an experience operator to run the hotel if they built it?…it has now been a year since Mayor Winnecke put the brakes on Mayor Weinzapfel’s serial failures and started over from scratch?…at the end of that year what we really have is a single supposedly qualified developer with an exquisite rendering?…this is a déjà-vu moment taking us back to that hot summer day in 2008 when Mayor Weinzapfel had exactly the same thing?…the next couple of months will be very interesting to watch unfold as the City of Evansville negotiates with HCW from about as weak a position as is possible?

IS IT TRUE that the last time Mayor Winnecke and his surrogates negotiated in secret and made a big announcement the result was the Earthcare Energy fiasco?…the Winnecke Administration, GAGE, and 5 members of the City Council to quote Councilman Al Lindsey “got the wool pulled over their eyes” that time?…the Earthcare Energy fiasco is still hanging in the unbalance with the City of Evansville owed $186,000 by a company whose officers whereabouts could not be found by the Evansville Courier and Press?…somehow that $380 interest only minimum payment always seems to show up on time every month so these people are out there somewhere?…the City County Observer would like to grease the skids to help find the officers of Earthcare Energy so we or the CP can interview them and learn their intentions for the future of their deal with Evansville?…we would like to know why they are paying the note that will come due in March of 2014?…we would like to know if they are in agreement at this time with the default position that the Winnecke Administration asserts that they are?…we are offering a reward of Dinner for Two at Cavanaugh’s Restaurant for information that leads to an interview with the officers of Earthcare Energy?…Winnecke Administration officials are not eligible for the dinner?

IS IT TRUE for those who missed it, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton applied a verbal beat down on a select group of United States Senators yesterday that they should never forget?…if these senators could have concentrated on asking short easy questions instead of grandstanding they may have actually learned something about what happened at Benghazi, Libya back in September?…they didn’t and if this is how the Senate conducts an investigation and inquisition they could not convict Charles Manson?…the Senate blew a great opportunity so now it is time for them to move on to the next assignment which is to develop and pass a budget in the next 3 months to avoid another debt limit crisis?…we would not bet 2 dinners at Cavanaugh’s on the Senate being successful at anything?

VHS Pet of the Week: “Duke”

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Duke is a 9 month old shepherd mix. He has a very loving personality. He is good natured and will get along fine with other animals or kids. His adoption fee would be $100 which includes, his neuter, microchip, age appropriate vaccines and a bag of food.

USI hosts Startup Weekend Evansville 2.0

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USI
After a successful inaugural Startup Weekend Evansville in 2012, organizers plan to “turn up the innovation” for Startup Weekend Evansville 2.0, which will be held Friday through Sunday, February 22-24, in USI’s Business and Engineering Center.

Startup Weekend is a 54-hour event in which developers, designers, marketers, product managers, and startup enthusiasts come together to share ideas, form teams, build products, and launch startups. Entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs can find out if their ideas are viable and work together to turn ideas into workable business concepts over the course of the weekend.

Last year’s event drew more than 100 attendees and 42 unique idea pitches, according to co-organizer Bryan K. Bourdeau, USI instructor in business. “A couple of those ideas will actually be launching soon,” he said. “The weekend offers easy access to priceless coaching information from intellectual property attorneys, angel investors, information technology, financial, marketing, management professionals, and active entrepreneurs.”

Watch the Startup Weekend 2.0 video.

All Startup Weekend events follow the same basic model: Anyone is welcome to pitch a startup idea and receive feedback from peers, teams form organically around the top ideas (as determined by popular vote), and then it’s a 54-hour frenzy of business model creation, coding, designing, and market validation. The events culminate with presentations in front of local entrepreneurial leaders and another opportunity for critical feedback.

Startup Weekend Evansville 2.0 will feature key speakers Steve Blank, Kent Parker, and Nick Tippman.

Blank, who will join the event via Skype, is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who retired after 21 years in eight high technology companies. He has taught entrepreneurship at the University of California-Berkeley, Stanford University, and Columbia University. In 2009, the San Jose Mercury News listed Blank as one of the 10 Influencers in Silicon Valley. He is the author of The Startup Owner’s Manual: The Step-By-Step Guide for Building a Great Company, Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost, and Four Steps to the Epiphany.

Parker retired as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of Ariba, Inc., a leading software and technology company based in California. He has been active in numerous business and economic ventures. He will discuss the impact of cloud technology on our lives and the way the world works with a focus on business.

Since attending his first Startup Weekend in November 2011, Tippman has been invited to be the social media coordinator for DEMO 2012, one of the largest Silicon Valley technology and startup conferences; organized Startup Weekend Bloomington in May 2012, and asked to join a startup at the Brandery, a nationally recognized business accelerator. More recently he joined Nibletz.com.

Startup Weekend Evansville 2.0 is supported by generous local sponsors Vectren, GAGE, USI College of Business, USI Pott College of Science, Engineering, and Education, InGen Technologies, Inc., MadStache, and Evansville Commerce Bank.

Founded in 2007, Startup Weekend is a 501(c)3 non-profit “on a mission to provide the world’s premier experiential education for beginning and early stage entrepreneurs.” Startup Weekend is billed as “the world’s largest community of passionate entrepreneurs,” with events held in cities throughout the world.

For more information and to register, go to evansville.startupweekend.org.

New Minority Owned Plastics Distributor Locates at Innovation Pointe in Downtown Evansville

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EVANSVILLE, IN – (January 23, 2013) – With more than 10 years of experience in the US
and Mexican resin industry Alfonso Vidal has recently started Vidal Plastics, LLC in
Evansville Indiana. This new venture was formed after carefully considering market
conditions, the availability of resin products in this area, and the advantages in logistics
and distribution due to Evansville’s location. In addition, Vidal Plastics, LLC will be
certified as a minority-owned enterprise (MBE), giving it a competitive advantage over
other similar distributors.

Vidal Plastics, LLC sells a wide range of resins, from prime raw materials to recycled
compounds. Products like Polycarbonate, Nylon, Polypropylene, TPE & TPO, ABS, PBT
and blends are available for purchasing from this organization. Vidal Plastics has a long
and diverse expertise in molding, parts design, material selection and industry specific
materials that would help molders, compounders, extruders and OEM’s with their
plastic processing needs.

Alfonso Vidal was born in Caracas, Venezuela where he was raised and in January of
1997 he moved to the United States to complete his BS in Engineering Management
with focus on Mechanical Engineering degree at the University of Evansville, in
Evansville IN. In addition, Vidal completed a MS in Industrial Management from the
University of Southern Indiana.

Vidal worked, for 11+ years, as a Sales Engineer at Omni Plastics, a custom resin
compounder in Evansville. He managed his US territory, international sales and more
specifically sales for a sister company, Resinal de Mexico. Resinal is a joint venture that
brings together US and Mexican capital to target the resin market in Mexico.

Vidal Plastics, LLC is located at Innovation Pointe (suite 207) in Downtown Evansville.
Innovation Pointe is a high-tech business incubator and Certified Technology Park
managed by the Growth Alliance for Greater Evansville.

Hotel Executive Speaks Against City Of Evansville Subsidizing Downtown Hotel

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January 23, 2013

Open Letter to the Editors of the Evansville Courier and Press & City County Observer,
the Mayor of the City of Evansville and members of the Evansville City Council,
Vanderburgh County Council and interested citizens:

As a party directly affected by the outcome of the ongoing political push to utilize funds from the Vanderburgh County Innkeepers Tax to build a downtown hotel, I must speak out against the inherent injustice in using the hard work and sweat of the current operators and their equally hard working and taxpaying employees to bankroll an outside interest to be in direct competition with the established businesses, whom, I might add, have not been invited to the public trough. For a little background, I have been involved in the motel business in Evansville since the early 70’s. I served on the CVB board shortly after the enabling legislation moved it from a quasi-government agency as part of the Chamber of Commerce to its current position as a supposedly independent governmental body. At the onset the tax was set at 1% of room revenue with a future cap of 2% which was to never be exceeded. The revenue generated from this tax could only be used to promote tourism and conventions within Vanderburgh County. As ensuing administrations looked to finance projects that could not support themselves they returned to the state legislature multiple times to allow the tax rate to be raised to its current 8% and to broaden the definition of “promoting tourism and conventions”.

The supposed current void created by the demolition of the Executive Inn is a manufactured fairy tale. We currently have two very nice properties downtown affiliated with the casino. If there were truly a need for additional hotel rooms downtown why doesn’t the free market see the need and fill it? None of the rest of us have had the benefit of public money, or free rent or governmental guarantees, when our properties were developed. To ask us to support using the tax dollars we generate to build this hotel would be akin to using the Food and Beverage Tax to finance a new out of town pizza restaurant that would be in direct competition with Turonis and the Roca Bar, two well established local tax payers, or maybe we create a new bread loaf tax to lure a new bakery to town to compete with Lewis. Then we can create a plastic cup tax so Berry Plastics can welcome a competitor to take advantage of the skilled labor pool which their hard work generated.

I will gladly let others more knowledgeable with the contents of the experts recommendations speak as to the many reasons why the private sector has not beat a path to a new downtown hotel and why it is not attractive enough for local developers to pursue. Instead I ask you to look back on the projects that got funding from the taxes the innkeepers’ generated by their hard work and investment in our community. We have paid our dues. Do not ask us to pay the dues for someone else. Especially not for someone who has not contributed to the local economy.

Sincerely,
Gary Nickolick , The Clarion Inn and Conference Center

Central High School to Host Taste of Central Feb. 1

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Central High School will host the third annual Taste of Central on Friday, Feb.1, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the CHS Cafeteria. The event will occur before the last home varsity basketball game at 7:30 p.m. Fourteen different clubs and organizations will sell food items such as BBQ pork, walking tacos, potato soup, chili, Spudz-n-Stuff loaded baked potatoes, quesadillas, lemon shakeups, baked goods, and much more. All proceeds will benefit the clubs and organizations of Central High School.

VANDERBURGH COUNTY FELONY CHARGES

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Below is a list of felony cases that were filed by the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday, January 22, 2013.

Alvin Grisby Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Methamphetamine – Class A Felony

Nathan Kirby Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Methamphetamine – Class A Felony

Brent Caulder Battery Resulting in Bodily Injury – Class D Felony
Battery by Bodily Waste – Class D Felony
Intimidation – Class D Felony
Resisting Law Enforcement – A Misdemeanor

Dana Southers Dealing in Methamphetamine – Class B Felony
(Habitual Offender Enhancement)

For further information on the cases listed above, or any pending case, please contact Regene Newman at 812.435.5156 or via e-mail at rinewman@vanderburghgov.org

Under Indiana law, all criminal defendants are considered to be innocent until proven guilty by a court of law.
SENTENCE CHART

Class Range
Murder 45-65 Years
Class A Felony 20-50 Years
Class B Felony 6-20 Years
Class C Felony 2-8 Years
Class D Felony ½ – 3 Years
Class A Misdemeanor 0-1 Year
Class B Misdemeanor 0-180 Days
Class C Misdemeanor 0-60 Days

EVSC Students Advance to State Business Competition

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Sixty-four high school students in the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation advanced to the Indiana State Business Professionals of America (BPA) contest scheduled for March in Indianapolis after qualifying at the district contest this past weekend. If the students place at the state level, they will compete at the national level in Orlando, Fla., in May.

The students earned the opportunity to advance by competing in the district competition held Saturday, January 12, at Ivy Tech Community College. Students participated in numerous areas, including payroll and fundamental accounting, desktop publishing, spreadsheet analysis, PC serving and troubleshooting and many more. More than 400 students competed at the district event from multiple counties in Southwest Indiana, including Posey, Vanderburgh, Warrick, Spencer, Perry, Gibson, Pike, Dubois, Knox, Davies and Martin.

Following is a complete list of EVSC students who advanced to state

Dilyne Barton 2nd – Parliamentary Procedure 5th – Medical Office Procedures Bosse High School

Dakota Berry 9th – Fundamental Spreadsheet Applications 10th – Financial Math and Analysis Bosse High School

David Greenwood 1st – Small Business Management Team Bosse High School

Hannah Kenoyer 8th – Information Technology Concepts 10th – Fundamental Spreadsheet Applications Bosse High School

Nature Marshall 8th – Insurance Concepts Bosse High School

Madison Osbourne 6th – Medical Office Procedures Bosse High Schoool

Hannah Riffle 1st – Small Business Management Team 2nd – Interview Skills Bosse High School

Krissy Terry 1st – Small Business Management Team 3rd – Project Management Concepts 6th – Financial Math and Analysis
Bosse High School

Taylor Waddel 7th – Fundamental Accounting Central High School

Alanna Payne 8th – Fundamental Accounting Central High School

Hillary Smith 1st – Advanced Accounting 2nd – Advanced Interview Skills Central High School

Cory Simmons 2nd – Payroll Accounting 5th – Advanced Office Systems & Procedures Central High School

AJ Crowell 4th – Fundamental Spreadsheet 11th – Database Applications Central High School

Elizabeth Ryder 2nd – Fundamental Word Processing Central High School

Jacob Albin 10th – Fundamental Word Processing Central High School

Jennifer Blythe 10th – Database Applications Central High School

Jacob Anderson
Josh Bertram
Connor Clements 1st – Broadcast News Team Central High School

Allie Wigginton 3rd – Graphic Design Promotion Central High School

Lakota Ironrope
Cody Kennedy
Andre McVey
Austin VanBritson 1st – Presentation Management Team Central High School

Josh Degenhart
Reed Leonhardt
Sam Murillo
Owen Newman Top 12 – Website Design Team Central High School

Cameron Gilreath 3rd – Job Interview 3rd – Presentation Management – Individual Harrison High School

Dylan Blankenship 1st – Advanced Desktop Publishing North High School

Chase Clayton 2nd – Advanced Desktop Publishing North High School

Caleb Chambers 3rd – Advanced Desktop Publishing North High School

Brett Millikan 1st – Entrepreneurship North High School

Derek Tapley 1st – Systems Administration – Cisco North High School

Cody Adler, Tyler Melton and Ryan Koestring 3rd – Video Production – Team North High School

Klara Williamson 4th – Advanced Spreadsheet Applications 5th – Fundamental Word Processing Skill North High School

Jackson Treadway 4th – Fundamental Word Processing Skills 6th – Fundamental Spreadsheet Applications North High School

Garrett Young 7th – Fundamentals of Desktop Publishing North High School

Tyler Melton 8th – Fundamentals of Desktop Publishing North High School

Howard Yeh 1st – Interview Skills 8th – Financial Math & Analysis Reitz High School

Sammy Tadros 1st – Financial Math & Analysis 2nd – Economic Research Team 7th – Medical Office Procedures Reitz High School

Mitchell Schnarr 2nd – Economic Research Team Reitz High School

Garrett Goebel 2nd – Economic Research Team Reitz High School

Noah Weisling 2nd – Global Marketing Research Team 6th – Parlimentary Procedures Reitz High School

Matt Parker 2nd – Global Marketing Research Team 2nd – Information Technology Concepts Reitz High School

Marek Rathousky 3rd – Fundamental Accounting 3rd – Payroll Accounting Reitz High School

Jacob Rusk 5th – Fundamental Spreadsheets Reitz High School

Clayton Carlton 5th – Integrated Office Applications Reitz High School

Bailey Jones 6th – Advanced Office Procedures Reitz High School

Kate Lutz 3rd – Advanced Office Procedures 3rd – Medical Office Procedures Reitz High School

Liberty Wiley 8th – Legal Office Procedures Reitz High School

Rebecca Cobb 6th – Legal Office Procedures Reitz High School

Blake Huggins 5th – Legal Office Procedures Reitz High School

Evan Logue 4th – Legal Office Procedures Reitz High School

Caitlyn DeMoss 1st – Human Resource Management 2nd – Small Business Management Team Reitz High School

Ben Campbell 2nd – Small Business Management Team Reitz High School

Ty Martin 2nd – Small Business Management Team Reitz High School

Madaline Bogan 1st – Presentation Management – Individual Reitz High School

Allie Winstead 2nd – Presentation Management Team Reitz High School

Kate Carnahan 2nd – Presentation Management Team Reitz High School

Brie Phillips 2nd – Presentation Management Team Reitz High School

Kaitlyn Bryan 2nd – Presentation Management Team Reitz High School

Business Professionals of America is the national career/technical student organization for students preparing for careers in the business world.

EVSC Full-Day Kindergarten Enrollment to Begin February 19

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Enrollment for full-day kindergarten in the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation will begin Tuesday, February 19, at all EVSC elementary schools.

In order to enroll, children must be five years old on or before August 1, 2013. Parents or legal guardians will need to be present and provide a copy of the child’s legal birth certificate (hospital certificates cannot be considered) at the time of enrollment.

Once the student is enrolled, each school will give parents an enrollment packet and other items of interest to new enrollees. In addition, each school will host orientation meetings Tuesday, April 2.

There are currently 21 schools in the EVSC serving kindergarten students. The school district a child will attend is based on where a student and parent reside. Individuals unsure in which school district their home resides are encouraged to call any EVSC elementary school or the EVSC Administration Building at 435-8453. Parents also can visit www.evscschools.com/schools/bus-transportation/what-bus-do-i-ride.

EVSC schools enrolling kindergarten students include:

Caze, 2013 S. Green River Road, 477-5567 Cedar Hall, 2100 N. Fulton Avenue, 435-8223

Cynthia Heights, 7225 Big Cynthiana Rd, 435-8740 Daniel Wertz, 1701 S. Red Bank, 435-8312

Delaware, 700 N. Garvin St, 435-8227 Dexter, 917 S. Dexter Ave., 476-1321

Evans, 2727 N. Evans Ave, 435-8330 Fairlawn, 2021S. Alvord Blvd., 476-4997

Glenwood, 901 Sweetser Ave., 435-8242 Harper, 21 S. Alvord Blvd., 476-1308

Hebron, 4400 Bellemeade Ave., 477-8915 Highland, 6701 Darmstadt Rd, 867-6401

Lincoln, 635 Lincoln Ave., 435-8235 Lodge, 2000 Lodge Ave, 477-5319

Oak Hill, 7700 Oak Hill Rd., 867-6426 Scott, 14940 Old State Rd., 867-2427

Stockwell, 2501 N. Stockwell Rd, 477-5345 Stringtown, 4720 Stringtown Rd., 435-8320

Tekoppel, 111 N. Tekoppel Ave., 435-8333 Vogel, 1500 Oak Hill Rd, 477-6109

West Terrace, 8000 West Terrace Dr., 435-8733

IS IT TRUE January 23, 2013

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The Mole #??

IS IT TRUE January 23, 2013

IS IT TRUE several of our CCO downtown MOLES and the dine out allot MOLE are telling us that the old Riverhouse Hotel may be seeing some construction workers rattling its bones soon?…the brand that we hear will be associated with this old hotel will be the Comfort Inn?…the number of rooms in this new hotel should stay in the range of 90 which is just about the number of rooms one study stated downtown Evansville can absorb?…right next door the McCurdy Hotel now under new ownership may have some hammers swinging this summer as well?…the new ownership has stated plans to convert the classic downtown hotel into 90 or so luxury apartments?…Evansville may be the only city in America to have luxury apartments occupying the same block as a Comfort Inn?…even freeway off-ramps do not place luxury apartments and Comfort Inn branded motels next to each other?

RiverHouse as Comfort Inn
IS IT TRUE that at the same time it is expected that today the Evansville Redevelopment Commission will be hearing a presentation asking them to open negotiations with one of the three bidders on the downtown Convention Hotel project at the MLK Entertainment Complex?…it is also expected that this project will involve not just hotel rooms but will have retail space, restaurant space, and even some luxury apartments?…just the 250 or so hotel rooms and all of the infrastructure needed to support them were going to require a taxpayer subsidy of over $40 Million to interest any developer?…such a package will put the City of Evansville in the position of subsidizing the competitor of the McCurdy Hotel, the pending Comfort Inn, the other innkeepers in Evansville, the downtown restaurants, and every retail real estate owner in downtown Evansville?…such a broad subsidy that will undermine the competitive marketplace will not only infuriate existing business owners but will send a message to the site selectors that Evansville is an easy mark for developers from elsewhere who wish to seek guaranteed subsidized bottom lines right here in River City?

IS IT TRUE that one of the tricks (SNEGAL if we may say so) that the Mole Nation tells us will be proposed is to remove the new downtown Convention Hotel from the existing downtown TIF (tax increment finance) district and place it in a stand alone TIF?…this legal maneuver will blaze the trail to return all of the tax revenue generated by the hotel/retail complex right back to cover the subsidies pledged and bonded to the developer?…such a move will remove any chance for other businesses to benefit directly from the new development?…removing this new venture from the tax roles for the foreseeable future will also raise the property taxes of homes in Pigeon Township where the hotel will be if and only if the Evansville City Council has been herded successfully to vote for the financing of any deal?…that supposes that the land unless subsidized will never see any development at all or ever be returned to the tax roll that it was on before the Weinzapfel Administration proceeded to demolish the Executive Inn with no viable plan for a replacement?

IS IT TRUE a bill that would allow the casinos to move from the boats onto land, reduce their taxes and lift game restrictions will be discussed in the Indiana Senate as early as today?… the biggest question is whether such a bill can win approval from lawmakers leery about being perceived as expanding gambling? …Indiana expects a 15 percent drop in the tax revenues from its 13 casinos, from the $614 million it collected last year to about $520 million for the 2015 budget year?…State officials blame the decline in part on the opening of new casinos in Ohio, Michigan and Illinois?…the move to being land based as opposed to maintaining a “Riverboat” is a good move that should have been the case from day one?…looking back forcing gambling into the water as opposed to right next to the water was a cowardly stupid thing to do in the first place?…in the case of Evansville with the northern border of Kentucky right on the riverbank it was even required to dig out the bank to be in Indiana?…the CCO supports land based gaming and just shakes our head in disbelief that the boat option was the path that needed to be taken to get to a more sane solution?

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