Evansville, July 18, 2012 – Due to further evidence of West Nile Virus in the City
of Evansville, the Vanderburgh County Health Department is going to perform
focused adulticiding operations in areas where significant mosquito or West Nile
activity has been found. The adulticiding operation will take place the evening of
July 20, 2012, weather permitting. The spraying will be within an area bound by
Alvord Blvd., Covert Ave, Vann Ave., and Bellemeade Ave. If the treatments
cannot be completed on the designated date, they will resume on the next
available day.

The Vanderburgh County Health Department will continue to focus its efforts on
habitat elimination, education, and treatment of stagnant or standing water as
these are the most effective forms of mosquito control.

The Health Department is asking residents to:
 Be Smart. Take special precautions when outdoors between dusk and
dawn, when mosquitoes are most active;
 Be Safe. Use insect repellant containing DEET, Picaridin, or Oil of
Lemon Eucalyptus.( Products containing DEET should not be used on
infants aged <2 months of age and those containing Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus should not be used on infants <3 years of age); and  Be Certain. Make sure your property is free of any standing water, which could be breeding grounds for the mosquitoes that carry the virus. Empty flowerpots, buckets, old tires, and clogged gutters.

By: John Kass

Excerpts

When President Barack Obama hauled off and slapped American small-business owners in the mouth the other day, I wanted to dream of my father.

But I didn’t have to close my eyes to see my dad. I could do it with my eyes open.

All I had to do was think of the driveway of our home, and my dad’s car gone before dawn, that old white Chrysler with a push-button transmission. It always started, but there was a hole in the floor and his feet got wet in the rain. So he patched it with concrete mix and kept on driving it to the little supermarket he ran with my Uncle George.

He’d return home long after dark, physically and mentally exhausted, take a plate of food, talk with us for a few minutes, then flop in that big chair in front of the TV. Even before his cigarette was out, he’d begin to snore.

The next day he’d wake up and do it again. Day after day, decade after decade. Weekdays and weekends, no vacations, no time to see our games, no money for extras, not even forMcDonald’s. My dad and Uncle George, and my mom and my late Aunt Mary, killing themselves in their small supermarket on the South Side of Chicago.

There was no federal bailout money for us. No Republican corporate welfare. No Democratic handouts. No bipartisan lobbyists working the angles. No Tony Rezkos. No offshore accounts. No Obama bucks.

Just two immigrant brothers and their families risking everything, balancing on the economic high wire, building a business in America. They sacrificed, paid their bills, counted pennies to pay rent and purchase health care and food and not much else. And for their troubles they were muscled by the politicos, by the city inspectors and the chiselers and the weasels, all those smiling extortionists who held the government hammer over all of our heads.

I thought about this after I heard what Obama told a campaign crowd the other day, speaking about business owners and why they were successful.

“You didn’t get there on your own,” Obama said. “I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there. It must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tell you something — there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there.

“If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.”

If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that? Somebody else made that happen?

Somebody else, Mr. President? Who, exactly? Government?

One of my earliest memories as a boy at the store was that of the government men coming from City Hall. One was tall and beefy. The other was wiry. They wanted steaks.

We didn’t eat red steaks at home or yellow bananas. We took home the brown bananas and the brown steaks because we couldn’t sell them. But the government men liked the big, red steaks, the fat rib-eyes two to a shrink-wrapped package. You could put 20 or so in a shopping bag.

“Thanks, Greek,” they’d say.

That was government.

We didn’t go to movies or out to restaurants. Everything went into the business. Uncle George and dad never bought what they could not afford. The store employed people, and the workers fed their families and educated their children and put them through college. They were good people, all of them. We worked together and worked hard, but none worked harder than the bosses.

It’s the same story with so many other businesses in America, immigrants and native-born. The entrepreneurs risk everything, their homes, their children’s college funds, their hearts, all for a chance at the dream: independence, and a small business of their own.

Most often, they fail and fall to the ground without a government parachute. But some get up and start again.

When I was grown and gone from home, my parents finally managed to save a little money. After all those years of hard work and denying themselves things, they had enough to buy a place in Florida and a fishing boat in retirement. Dad died only a few years later. You wouldn’t call them rich. But Obama might.

Obama’s changed. Gone is that young knight drawing the sword from the stone, selling Hopium to the adoring media, preaching an end to the broken politics of the past. These days, he wears a new presidential persona: the multimillionaire with the Chicago clout, playing the class warrior, fighting for that second term.

And he offers an American dream much different from my father’s. Open your eyes and you can see it too. He stands there at the front of the mob, in his shirt sleeves, swinging that government hammer, exhorting the crowd to use its votes and take what it wants.

Link to Article and Video:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/ct-met-kass-0718-20120718,0,2313230.column

Some Facts from the website of Gallup Polling:

2012: Today President Obama leads Mitt Romney by 47% – 45%, the lead has changed hands several times

2008: On September 17, 2008 McCain led Obama in the poll by 49% – 44%, Obama won by a comfortable margin

2004: In August John Kerry led President George W. Bush 50% – 45%, Bush won by a small margin

2000: On September 20th, Vice President Al Gore led George W. Bush 51% – 41%, Bush won by a hanging chad or two

1996: President Clinton led every poll by a significant amount and went on to re-election

1992: Candidates President G. H. W. Bush, Governor Clinton, and Ross Perot all enjoyed large leads at some point during the summer, Clinton survived winning with well under 50% of the vote

1988: On July 26th Michael Dukakis led Vice President George Bush by a staggering 54% – 37%, maybe the biggest turnaround ever once Dukakis took to riding a tank

1984: President Ronald Reagan held a double digit lead in all polls wire to wire and was re-elected by a wide margin

1980: President Jimmy Carter led Ronald Reagan on October 26th by a margin of 45% – 39%, the economy and Iran did not sink in until a few days before the election that Reagan won

1976: President Gerald Ford led Jimmy Carter by 47% – 46% on election day, Carter won a close election

1972: President Nixon lead George McGovern by double digits in every poll winning re-election by a wide margin

For those who are placing November faith in July polls even at the state level the results above should sober you up. Both candidates have plenty of opportunities to defeat themselves with gaffes, bleeps, and blunders between now and November and both have proven they are fully capable of inserting their foot into their mouths already.

Evansville City Councilman John Friend, CPA has advised the City County Observer that he intends to hold the ordinance regarding the recommended salary increases for 10 City of Evansville employees for further study. Councilman Friend is going to push for a 3rd Party review of the competitiveness of the salary brackets of the City of Evansville with comparable cities. Upon completion of such a study Councilman Friend intends to include the study as an addendum to the resolution and to make upgrades to the salary brackets if deemed appropriate.

Councilman Friend stressed the importance of having a competitive salary structure with appropriate job descriptions for all City of Evansville employees. He also stated that the capricious way that things have been done with respect to salary increases does not reflect a policy of good fiduciary responsibility.

The most glaring example of capricious actions that undermined the authority of the Evansville City Council happened with respect to former DMD Director Tom Barnett who was paid over $40,000 per year through the Growth Alliance for Greater Evansville (GAGE) that was reimbursed by the Weinzapfel Administration through other funds. It was learned at that time that Evansville was not even competitive with towns of less than 20,000 people and lower costs of living than Evansville for this position. Barnett’s contract with GAGE was signed by Mayor Weinzapfel as the Chairman of the Board of Directors. No other signatures were on the contract.

Councilman Friend estimates that the study if authorized will take about 4 months to complete.

It’s official: Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels has proclaimed July 23-27, 2012, as Indiana Private College Week. Next week, the University of Evansville will join 30 other private, nonprofit colleges and universities across the state in opening its doors to prospective students and their families.

During Private College Week, UE will offer daily campus tours at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., followed by admission presentations. Advance registration is encouraged but not required.

Governor Daniels’ signed proclamation cites the productivity of Indiana’s independent sector of higher education­. While enrolling only 20 percent of the state’s undergraduates, private campuses produce 35 percent of its bachelor’s degrees, as well as graduate the majority of their students within four years. Also cited is the distinctive role the 31 campuses play in the advancement of Indiana, not only through high-quality education, but also economic, cultural, and civic contributions to communities throughout the state.

“We want every family to find out why earning a degree at an Indiana private, nonprofit college is smart academically and smart financially,” says Richard L. Ludwick, president & CEO of Independent Colleges of Indiana, Inc. “Unlike at other types of Indiana colleges and universities, the majority of our students graduate in four years rather than six — or two-thirds the time it takes elsewhere.”

Visitors between the ages of 16 and 20 touring one or more ICI campuses during Private College Week will have the chance to enter a drawing for an Apple iPad. Entry forms and rules will be available at each campus.

To schedule a visit to UE during Private College Week, please call 812-488-2468 or 800-423-8633 x2468, or e-mail admission@evansville.edu.

Source: Evansville.edu

On Saturday, July 21st, learn about orchids native to Indiana at a program at Oaklyn Branch Library. Ron Giles, orchid expert and nature photographer, will tell you about the ongoing efforts to restore their habitats and will share tips on buying and maintaining cloud forest orchids.

Orchids: The Forgotten Native begins at 10:00 am in Oaklyn’s meeting room, 3001 Oaklyn Drive, and is free and open to all.

This program is presented in conjunction with the Southwest Indiana chapter of Indiana Native Plant and Wildflower Society.