IS IT TRUE that last spring during the Arab uprisings that toppled several oppressive regimes that the City County Observer opined that such things could easily happen in the United States if the economy did not improve?…that we were chided by some of our readers for making such a rash statement?…that the economy has not improved, that stagnation is a good term to describe what is going on, and that the street protests that the City County Observer predicted are now on American soil?…that the parade of over a thousand young people and middle aged but out of work professionals that started out as a tent city near Wall Street has grown and expanded?…that American people who are discontent over the state of the economy have been pepper sprayed and that 700 have been arrested?…that the non-violent but in your face movement has now spread to other cities from Maine to Seattle to Los Angeles and seems to have some representation at nearly every Federal Reserve Bank?…that the only other local voice to join the City County Observer’s prediction of what was coming to our shores if things did not get better was 5th Ward Republican candidate for Evansville City Council Brent Grafton?

IS IT TRUE that all cities in America do not have Wall Street or a branch of the Federal Reserve to make their frustrations known before?…that if and when this movement of discontentment moves to smaller cities like Evansville that the gathering places are likely to be local government buildings or private businesses that serve as proxies for Wall Street?…that we do not see a solution in sight that will diffuse this discontentment?

IS IT TRUE that there are those who appear to see the future and those who are afraid to look?…that there are those with the courage to recognize the potential for uprisings and those who are afraid to see?…that there are those who are willing to lay it on the line in by stating what to them is highly probable and there are those who cover their eyes, their ears, and their mouths in “three wise monkey” style or bury their heads in the sand?…that all progress starts with awareness?…that those who are unaware or those that refuse to acknowledge the obvious have no business leading anything?

IS IT TRUE that street protests are one of the things that happens when idle time is available to masses of people?…that unemployment increases idle time?…that unemployment added to a belief that the system is not working and stoked by the cries of “CLASS WARFARE”, “ENVY”, and “HATE’ coming from the nation’s leadership has the very real potential to backfire in a Kent State kind of way?…that as the lovely fall weather turns cold and unemployed people exhaust their extended unemployment benefits, heat has to be set on 40 degrees, there is no money for Christmas and Hanukkah presents and the Holiday turkey turns to a chicken or a can of spam that we may truly have a Arab style uprising?…that the CCO is not predicting blood in the streets and that we hope with all of our hearts that it will never come to that but we acknowledge that the powder keg is in place for disaster?…that we just hope that if the powder keg is lit that it is not our own government that lights it?

IS IT TRUE that just this morning in an article in the Courier and Press about the “Zombie Marches” in New York and other cities that some postings appeared to be trying to organize a “Zombie March” on Vectren?…that the CP disabled the posting option for that story?…that we support the CP’s decision and that private comment forums are not the place to allow the organization of “Zombie Marches”?…that if the aspiring Zombie Marchers want to organize they can do that on their own?

IS IT TRUE that the Evansville Redevelopment Commission is meeting this morning and that small snippets of both the McCurdy Hotel apartment conversion and the VETTING contract for the downtown Convention Hotel are on the agenda?…that while the VETTING may be taking longer than expected the fact that a change order is on the agenda and that the process is taking what seems like forever is a good indication that real VETTING is really going on?…that when a recommendation is issued by Hunden Strategic Partners that the CCO hopes to be able to publish the entire study that lead to the recommendation?…that learning about VETTING is a good addition to the skill set of local people and that someday when new members are seated on the ERC maybe just maybe we won’t have five people who apparently have never even heard the word?

IS IT TRUE that speaking of VETTING we wonder if any VETTING like activities have begun on the capacity of City Centre Properties LLC?…that we surely would expect something as simple as making sure that the real estate taxes have been paid on the property before granting an extension of any kind to this development company?…that the CCO dutifully checks every day to see if that has happened?…that someone on the ERC should have the Vanderburgh County Treasurers Office on speed dial to learn if the taxes have been paid?…that no legitimate lending institution will fund a loan without the taxes being paid?… ?…that the ERC who has embraced VETTING for the hotel should extend that sane and correct activity to the McCurdy?…that the mantra for today’s ERC meeting for the taxpayers of Evansville to be properly served should be “NO TAXES NO EXTENSION”?…that keeping things simple has never been so easy?

IS IT TRUE that the City County Observer has been checking everyday to see if the real estate taxes have been paid on the McCurdy Hotel? …that on the morning of October 4th, parcel #82-06-30-020-005.002-029 also known as the McCurdy Hotel and located at 100 SE Riverside in Evansville, IN indicates that there is still a delinquent tax amount of $12,274.76?…that if we can report that the taxes are paid on this property that the CCO will become more enthused about the proposition of this project moving forward?…that it has now been 14 full days since Mr. Steve Scott was advised that the taxes on the McCurdy Hotel have not been paid?

IS IT TRUE that we have been privy to the information that one of the respondents to the RFP to build a downtown Convention Hotel has provided everything that they were asked for to Hunden Strategic Partners to be VETTED?…that we also hear that EB-5 financing for such a project in this location has taken a positive step forward?…that we have no information whatsoever regarding the other proposal?

IS IT TRUE that the CCO would like to offer to take columnist Morton Marcus on a tour of Evansville?…that the path we would follow would start in the downtown and meander through the Front Door Pride area?…that next we would be sure to show Marcus parts of the Southside, the Southeast Side, and the area in the 3rd Ward where that dangerous rubble pile still sets?…that only through seeing both the good parts of Evansville that a cheerleader or a “Cruise Director in Chief” would include in Marcus’s itinerary and the parts where the sewers are failing and as Tom Barnett so cleverly describes is “abandonment of houses is a growth industry” can Mr. Marcus really start to get a grip on why signs of life in the downtown just don’t match one’s paradigm for thriving and vibrant?