As the holiday season arrives, Garvin Park transforms into into a winter wonderland of lights and holiday scenes. Each year, the event helps pay for thousands of physical, occupational and speech therapy sessions to children and adults with disabilities at the easter Seals Rehabilitation Center. 5-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 5-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday.
Ritzy’s Fantasy of Lights
VHS Pet of the Week: “Lars”
Lars is a very friendly cat. His black and white coat gives him a unique look. Lars has lived with other cats and dogs, so he would work well in a multi pet household. His sweet disposition will easily win you over if you meet him. His adoption fee will be $30 which includes his neuter, a nationally registered microchip, age appropriate vaccines and a bag of food.
New City Police Car on Display at Tonight’s Traveling City Hall
EVANSVILLE, IN – One of the Evansville Police Department’s new 2013 Dodge Charger will be on display at tonight’s Traveling City Hall meeting at Northeast Park Baptist Church, 1215 N. Boeke Rd., from 5:30 to 7 p.m. The police department is adding several new vehicles to replace its aging fleet. The cars will be equipped with the tools officers need to perform their duties in the most efficient manner, including laptop computers to allow officers to complete reports from their cars instead of returning to the office.
Traveling City Hall is an opportunity for residents to meet with various city department heads to ask questions or simply discuss the status of our community. Among those attending tonight’s meeting will be Evansville Police Chief Billy Bolin, Transportation and Services Director Todd Robertson and Joe Ballard from the Solid Waste District.
Traveling City Hall meetings are usually held on the last Wednesday of each month at different locations in neighborhoods throughout the city from 5:30 to 7 p.m. All residents are invited to attend any session.
The next Traveling City Hall meetings will be held on Wednesday, January 30, 2013 at Greater St. James Missionary Baptist Church, 465 S. Elliott St. No meeting is scheduled in December.
Clark Found Guilty of Forgery
Evansville, IN – November 27, 2012, John N. Clark, age 29, was found guilty in Vanderburgh County Circuit Court of Conspiracy to Commit Forgery – Class C Felony. Clark faces 2-8 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections and will be sentenced by Judge Kelly Fink on December 27 at 9:00 a.m.
For further information on the case listed above, or any pending case, please contact Carly Settles, director of public relations at 812.435.5688 or via e-mail at csettles@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
VANDERBURGH COUNTY FELONY CHARGES
Evansville, IN – Below is a list of felony cases that were filed by the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office on Monday, November 26, 2012.
Jack Hatfield Neglect of a Dependent – Class D Felony
Operating a Vehicle with a BAC of .15 or More With a Passenger Less Than 18
Years of Age – Class D Felony
Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated – Class C Misdemeanor
(Habitual Offender Enhancement)
Shawn James Theft – Class D Felony
Willie Maffett Possession of Cocaine – Class D Felony
Possession of Paraphernalia – Class A Misdemeanor
(Enhanced to a Class D Felony due to Prior Convictions)
Resisting Law Enforcement – Class A Misdemeanor
Disorderly Conduct – Class B Misdemeanor
Public Intoxication – Class B Misdemeanor
Thomas Schirr Operating a Vehicle as an Habitual Traffic Violator – Class D Felony
Jonathan Wheeler Battery Resulting in Bodily Injury – Class D Felony
Domestic Battery – Class D Felony
Mark Young Assisting a Criminal – Class D Felony
Resisting Law Enforcement –Class A Misdemeanor
For further information on the cases listed above, or any pending case, please contact Carly Settles at 812.435.5688 or via e-mail at csettles@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
Aurora Gingerbread House Competition
Evansville, IN ~ The Centre’s Exhibit Hall will house the 2012 Aurora Gingerbread House Competition on Saturday, December 1st. The public, with the admission of an easy-open can of food or winter item, can watch the 9:30am to 2:30pm Gingerbread House building, the judging and the 4:00pm award ceremony. The building will be open to the public from 9:30am to 5:00pm.
As many as 80 teams will compete from all over the Midwest. There will be local and regional Celebrity Judges and Emcees, exciting entertainment acts, fabulous Silent Auction items, and also innovative Gingerbread activities for all! For more information or a registration form visit www.auroraevansville.org.
In a unique effort to raise funds and awareness for Aurora and its’ mission to end homelessness, the Midwest Gingerbread House Competition and Holiday Showcase was developed in 2011. What better way to bring the community together than a fun-filled, friendly contest consisting of the holiday tradition and wonder of building gingerbread houses. Unlike other competitions, Aurora’s twist on the event is the construction of the showpieces onsite. This is not only a chance for the public to view the incredible techniques and skills of professionals, amateurs and youth, but the “building†symbolizes what Aurora works to accomplish everyday through its’ services: creating foundations and hope for those individuals and families who have no one else.
You are invited to make a gingerbread house to help the homeless, or come watch as professionals, amateurs and youth all compete in different divisions to help raise funds and awareness for the homeless in our area. Live holiday music, amazing shopping booths, a silent auction, a gingerbread workshop for little ones and pictures with Santa will make it a great time for the entire family! This is a fundraiser to benefit Aurora, Building Sweet Hope for the homeless in our community.
For Competitors the Top prize for Amateurs is $1500, professionals $2500 and youth $500. Admission is free with donation of a canned good or hygiene product. Monetary contributions are also welcome! More details and entry forms can be found at the Aurora website: http://www.auroraevansville.org/ or contact Aurora at 812-428-3246.
VANDERBURGH COUNTY FELONY CHARGES
Evansville, IN – Below is a list of felony cases that were filed by the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday, November 21, 2012.
Joseph Berman Dealing in Methamphetamine – Class A Felony
Maintaining a Common Nuisance – Class D Felony
Michael Bruce Unlawful Possession or Use of a Legend Drug – Class D Felony
Erron Huckelberry Dealing in Methamphetamine –Class A Felony
For further information on the cases listed above, or any pending case, please contact Carly Settles at 812.435.5688 or via e-mail at csettles@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
IS IT TRUE November 27, 2012
IS IT TRUE Evansville has had a dog park that was built with private money in an existing park for over 10 years?…in this 10 years time the dues paying membership ($30 per year) peaked at 200 and is now at only 100 members?…that means they collect a whopping $3,000 per year in what is a land subsidized free market dog park?…100 dog owners constitutes slightly less than 0.1% of the population of Evansville that is using this park after 10 years?…the obvious conclusion is that a dog park that requires a drive to utilize will only be used by a scant minority of the population and is therefore a poor use of public funds?…this dog park very much resembles the 1 acre chain link dog parks in the Denver dog park plan published by the City County Observer a few weeks ago?…the cost to chain link an acre in an existing city park is well under $20,000 per park and can easily be absorbed by dog owners without taking money from non-dog-owning taxpayers to subsidize recreational facilities for Bowser and his pals?…if Evansville is to have dog parks the best plan of action is to allocate areas of existing parks and offer individuals the opportunity to contribute to a dog park fund for their neighborhood parks?…spending large sums of money to build a drive to dog park is a ridiculous misappropriation of public funds?
IS IT TRUE that even in the cold of November when there has not been any significant rain for weeks that the smell of what happens when the sewer does not do its job permeates Bee Slough, the south side, and right around Roberts Stadium as though a fresh dump was made this morning?…that eliminating this smell, the health issues that accompany it, and the lost commercial opportunities that happen when site selectors or corporate executives get a whiff of that jiff is looming as a $500 Million+ expenditure that will be borne by the taxpayers of Evansville?…this expense is not really negotiable and the failure of the City of Evansville to come up with a serious plan in the two years granted to do so may re-start the expensive fines levied on Evansville by the EPA during the Weinzapfel Administration?…the planning at this point could be and should be complete to the point that the EPA could evaluate and pass the plan that should be submitted 3 days from today?…rather than get on with the business of planning and spending the necessary $500 Million to become a functional city the government of Evansville has dallied and danced building a $127 Million temple to sport, is resubmitting a plan to spend about $50 Million to read the water meters through a fiber optic network, spending nearly a million bucks to tear down a perfectly good facility, contemplating a $10 Million dog and skateboard park, and are poised to ask the City Council for over $20 Million for a downtown hotel subsidy within sniffing range of Bee Slough?…just the non-essential spending for fun and games during the last 4 years and spanning two administrations now exceeds $200 Million and is rising?…the money spent on fun and games could have been used to ring Evansville up to the water and sewer standards of the 1970’s, BUTT NO, that is not the choice that our elected officials made for us?…the government of the City of Evansville has once again chosen the cheap thrill of fun and games over substance?…that this goes a long way to explain why our best and brightest of all ages vote with their feet and vacate Evansville in record numbers?…if pissing away the money needed to do the basic things that we expect of local government offends you the it is incumbent upon you as citizens to let your elected officials know what you think of paying for fun and games when the toilet is broken?
IS IT TRUE that the Winnecke Administration has quietly made a few changes totaling less than $10 Million to former Mayor Weinzapfel’s last folly in office better known as the Johnson Controls contract?…it has been resubmitted to the IURC for approval to move forward to spend yet more taxpayer money on a non-essential function?…the CCO will be posting the resubmission in a matter of a few days for our readers to evaluate?…the fun and games just never seem to stop in the city that always seems to be asleep at the wheel?
SCOTT DANKS SELECTED AS NEXT CITY ATTORNEY FOR EVANSVILLE CITY COUNCIL
In a unexpected move at last nights Evansville City Council meeting saw the selection of highly regarded Evansville attorney Scott Danks as the next city attorney. Mr. Danks shall replace outgoing city attorney, John Hamilton, Esq. Although eight attorneys submitted resumes for this position, only six responded to the city council qualifications survey. City councilmen and search committee chairmen, Conor O’Daniel submitted the name of Scott Danks to be voted on by city council as next city attorney. Without fanfare or discussion council voted 9-0 in a voice vote to hire Mr. Danks as the next city attorny.
Our sources tell us that this move by Evansville City Council members is considered to be not only an outstanding political, but also a brilliant legal decision. They also tell us that Missy Mosby, Jonathon Weaver and Al Lindsey played a major role in the selection of Mr. Danks. They also tell us that the process has begun for the three city council members to finally work together for the betterment of this community. Coner O’Daniel and president of city council, Connie Robinson were extremely effective in bringing city council members together in the selection of the new city attorney. Councilmen Dr.Dan Adams and John Friend, CPA worked very hard in insuring that city council would vote 9-0 on this issue. Of course, social media also played a major role in this process.
Finally, our sources tell us that the selection of Mr. Danks as the next city attorney should be considered one of the Evansville City Council finest hours.
Official Bicentennial Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony Tonight
(EVANSVILLE, IN) – Please join Mayor Lloyd Winnecke for the official City of Evansville Bicentennial Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony at 5 p.m. today in front of the main entrance at the Civic Center, 1 N.W. Martin Luther King, Jr., Blvd. North High School Varsity Choir will open the ceremony with song and Mayor Winnecke will offer a few remarks welcoming the holiday season at the Civic Center.
Special thanks to Larry and Betty Underhill for donating the 25-foot-tall Norway spruce as the city’s official Christmas tree; Industrial Contractors, Inc./SANSKA for transporting the tree to the Civic Center; and Sam’s Club and Walmart’s of Evansville for donating lights.
The tree will remain on display in front of the Civic Center building through the holiday season and will be removed after January 1, 2013.