IS IT TRUE that the big news but not necessarily surprising news is that Vectren has filed a request with the Indiana Utility Regulation Commission asking for yet another rate increase?…that it was just a month or so ago that the last Vectren rate increase went into effect?…that Vectren already charges their customer base the highest rate in the State of Indiana by about a 50% margin and higher than Henderson, KY by a 212% margin?…that like a spoiled child that is catered too regularly Vectren is now asking the IURC to let them have a new toy and they want their customers to pay for it?…that Vectren also has asked the IURC to guarantee them a 7.29% rate of return with the ability to raise their fee annually if they didn’t quite get their forecast right the first time?

IS IT TRUE that the shiny new toy in this case is an upgrade to their turbines in the Posey County plant that saves coal but costs $32 Million?…that the coal that is saved is coal that Vectren for the most part already owns?…that Vectren’s right hand pays Vectren’s left hand for their coal so saving this coal completely benefits Vectren and Vectren alone?…that the rates that we already pay were calculated based on the equipment that they already have?…that we have been told time and time again that Vectren is ahead of the game with EPA mandated equipment and that Vectren is compliant with EPA standards?…that Vectren continually tells us that the price differences that exist now will vaporize when the rest of the country catches up with them?…that assuming that is all true there should be no EPA driven reason to consider these turbine upgrades?…that this shiny new toy is a WANT as opposed to a NEED?

IS IT TRUE that the fee that Vectren has asked for is a seemingly harmless $1.08 per month per customer?…that based on the 141,000 customer base this fee will bring Vectren a revenue increase of $1.83 Million per year?…that a guarantee of a 7.29% profit on an investment of $32 Million will “GUARANTEE” Vectren additional profits of $2.33 Million per year?…that we guess the difference in those amounts must be from burning less of their own coal?…that burning less of their own coal is pretty much the same thing as paying them to keep their money in the bank?…that the net result of this request is that the people of SW Indiana send an additional $1.83 Million to Vectren that makes $2.33 Million in profits and keeps the coal that they would have burned in their reserves?…that at Vectren’s current price to earnings ratio of 18.64 that the value of Vectren’ outstanding shares will increase by $43.43 Million?

IS IT TRUE that this request if granted will enrich the Vectren Corporation’s net value by $43.4 Million and that money will be coming via direct transfer of wealth from the working people of SW Indiana?…that in a part of the country where families already work 9 hours per month (2nd highest in Memphis Power study of 50 utilities) to pay for electricity, where we have to squeeze police cars to 10 year lives, where Fire Engines are cannibalized for parts, potholes go unfilled, parks can’t even be mowed, and the president of the Evansville City Council made a serious statement about removing the bulbs from street lights to save money, THIS IS NOT AN APPROPRIATE TIME TO FORCE THE PEOPLE OF SW INDIANA TO BUY VECTREN A NEW TOY?

IS IT TRUE that the City of Evansville is putting the finishing touches on a $128 Million Arena yet our sewer system is under EPA order to spend about $500 Million?…that the message this sends to the world is that we can play ball in luxury but can’t relieve ourselves without concern for walking through the grass?…that these kinds of decisions tell the world about misplaced priorities?…that buying spinner rims for a car that barely runs is a poor decision?…that buying a Rolls Royce when there is a leak in the trailer roof is a poor decision?…that buying Vectren a new toy with the peoples forced contribution is the same kind of decision as buying those spinner rims in this economy?…that it is time for the BUCK TO STOP even if it is just a BUCK A MONTH that we are being asked for?…that BUCK may be bus fare to work for some poor soul whose car won’t start and who can’t afford to pay their Vectren bill?

IS IT TRUE? Part 2 September 19, 2011

IS IT TRUE that in Sunday’s activity report for the Evansville Police Department there were five separate entries that were meth related?…that these were all for possession, dealing, or both?…that while one-pot labs grab headlines when houses explode from reactions gone bad the street drug scene just continues to plague Evansville?…that the CCO is proud of the officers of the EPD who lay it on the line every day in giving their best effort to keep our city safe?…that this is becoming a hard job to keep up with?

IS IT TRUE that the Evansville Redevelopment Commission has released the agenda for the meeting that they will be holding tomorrow morning at 8:30 am in the 3rd Floor of the Civic Center?…that the last line item on the agenda is an update on the status of the McCurdy Hotel project?…that as the Koala Bear in “Disney’s Rescuers Down Under” always says “This Ought to be Rich”?…that a quick check of the Vanderburgh County Assessors web page indicates at 2:36 pm today that there are still $12,274.76 in overdue taxes that are due?…that as much as we would like to believe that tomorrow’s update will be positive, owing back taxes is not an indication of good things to come?…that nevertheless the CCO does hope to see the McCurdy Hotel brought back to its long lost grandeur?…that we believe that the best and highest use for the McCurdy is to be a vintage elegant hotel as opposed to the four year old plan of converting it into luxury apartments?

IS IT TRUE that much to many speculators surprise the subject of a report by the VETTING company for the downtown Convention Hotel does not appear on the agenda?…that once in the very recent past one of the agendas had no mention of the VETTING and low and behold that lead VETTER showed up to address the ERC?…that for this person to have been in attendance took some scheduling and planning so it is highly probably that the ERC knew he was going to attend and just casually decided not to put him on the agenda that time?…that we wonder if such a thing could happen again?…that we will know in the morning?

IS IT TRUE that it was just announced that Cincinnati business Vantiv that was formerly known as CMC will be laying off about 75 of its 205 Evansville based employees?…that these layoffs have been deemed necessary by the headquarters as part of consolidating its Evansville based call center operation back to the home office area of Cincinnati?…that Vantiv is actually the Card Processing Solutions entity for Fifth Third Bank?…that this is not the win one for Evansville news that we were hoping for this week?…that we are willing to make a bet that there will be no smiling politicians cutting ribbons, congratulating each other, and sending out press releases about this news?…that the cast of characters that were celebrating and taking credit for attracting 40 jobs last week will run into a hole and hide when it comes to explaining the loss of these 75 jobs?

IS IT TRUE that Evansville resident Benjamin Magenheimer has filed a lawsuit against the Parks and Recreation Department of the City of Evansville for having him escorted out of the Evansville Zoo for carrying a handgun and not concealing it?…that his attorney will likely be asserting that Mr. Magenheimer’s 2nd Amendment rights were violated by the Parks Department?…that if this incident could have been avoided or accommodated that the City of Evansville would be spared some embarrassment and whatever settlement is reached could have been spent to repair some of our crumbling parks?…that the United States Constitution has been a pretty good way to govern and continues to be?…that some people just don’t seem to appreciate Constitutional rights as much as others?

IS IT TRUE that Evansville’s families and children who were at the Zoo when this happened were treated to something that should never happen in a free country of laws?…that a number of Evansville children watched a man who was living completely within the law of the land and keeping the peace surrounded by armed officers and escorted from the property for nothing but exercising his constitutional right to bear arms?…that this should be an example of the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution for every Civic class in EVSC for the next 50 years?…that if we are to keep our freedom we had best start teaching our children just what freedoms that we still have?

IS IT TRUE? September 19, 2011

IS IT TRUE that yesterday’s New York Times had a poignant but relevant quote by Maureen Doud?…that it goes like this?

“So we’re choosing between the over-intellectualized professor and blockheads boasting about their vacuity? The occupational hazard of democracy is know-nothing voters. It shouldn’t be know-nothing candidates.”

IS IT TRUE that there may just be or may just have been an alternate approach to securing new hotel rooms in downtown Evansville that was not seriously considered by the powers that be?…that there was at one time a proposal made that would have expanded the main hotel at Aztar by about 140 rooms?…that 140 rooms is what we have been told that studies indicate that the downtown Evansville hotel market can absorb comfortably?…that the proposal we speak of would have involved substantially less pubic money that the RFP that is currently being vetted has already committed to kick into the deal?…that the proposal would have made the 220+/- rooms that the RFP mandated available for conventions under the control of the Evansville Convention and Visitors Bureau during the week?…that this proposal included investments in luxury transportation to shuttle hotel guests to and from the MLK Entertainment Complex?…that this ghost of Christmas Past should be discussed by the Evansville Redevelopment Commission at its earliest convenience?

IS IT TRUE that a solution that required little or no public money and provided the hotel room requirements should have received more disclosure and discussion than it did?…that if such a proposal could be resurrected that it is still worth consideration?…that the City of Evansville and the Weinzapfel Administration are using a $3.5 Million contribution from Casino Aztar that was meant for an Arena project as part of the $8 Million incentive to a hotel developer?…that to take $3.5 Million from Tropicana or Casino Aztar and to hand it to a future competitor is flat out insulting to a complex that constitutes about 30% of all of the tourism revenue to the City of Evansville?…that reminds us of exactly what Mayor Weinzapfel accused Bill Yung III of Columbia Sussex of doing a couple of years ago?…that saying one thing and doing another is wrong even if it is SNEGAL (sneaky but legal)?

IS IT TRUE that it has now been 1,604 days since the announcement was made on May 14, 2007 that the McCurdy Hotel was to be refurbished into luxury apartments?…that it has now been 1,457 days since the Evansville Redevelopment Commission at the request of Mayor Weinzapfel approved the spending of $603,000 to purchase the parking lot?…that City Centre Properties and Scott Kosene the developers of the McCurdy project are both listed as contributors to the Weinzapfel for Mayor committee for 2010?

IS IT TRUE that in a short 51 days we will all know whether it will be Lloyd Winnecke or Rick Davis who will become the Mayor that will assume responsibility for executing the decisions that are playing out right now?…that that there are 103 days remaining in the Weinzapfel Administration?

IS IT TRUE that there are now 405 days remaining in the two years that the EPA had given the City of Evansville to present an acceptable solution to the Combined Sewer Overflow problem?…..that this plan is an expensive and complex endeavor that needs immediate attention to avoid the embarrassment and expense of another round of fines?

IS IT TRUE that University of Louisville football coach Charlie Strong ripped his team up after a recent loss to Florida International that had never ever won a game against a BCS team?…that a paraphrase of Coach Strong’s words to his team is “you guys are not a good team, you are not as good as your next opponent (Kentucky), you are not living up to your potential, and I as your coach am ashamed of your performance”?…that Coach Strong was very public with these statements and in many ways humiliated his players in the press?…that he worked them hard all week and gave them pure heck in every practice?…that the UL Cardinals responded with a 24 -17 win over the previously undefeated and heavily favored Kentucky Wildcats in their own home of Commonwealth Stadium?

IS IT TRUE that the negative feedback without any of the usual litany of pandering like “we are a good team that just had bad luck today”, “our guys stepped up except for the key interception”, or “we are rebuilding and we have a good base on which to build” banter that usually follows losses that should have been wins WORKED FOR COACH STRONG?

IS IT TRUE that the same is true when the City County Observer chides the City of Evansville for neglecting our parks, ignoring the will of the people, entering into impossible agreements like the McCurdy and the 4-Star downtown hotel that Browning was going to build without public assistance, and fails to so much as pull credit reports or check the pulse of out of town developers (that’s called vetting) who respond to our RFP’s?…that the same is true when the CCO points out the fact that we have a problem with litter, dilapidated houses, and crime in some areas?…that the same is true when we publish negative feedback on anything at all?…that the City County Observer publishes negative feedback for the same reason that Coach Strong used disrespectful language publically on the Cardinals?…that Coach Strong and the CCO are doing this so that lessons can be learned and past failures can be corrected to forge a positive future?

IS IT TRUE that we are sure that Coach Strong was making suggestions on improvements all week in practice just as the CCO makes suggestions for improvements like vetting, cleaning, and having the guts to look into the mirror and be truthful?…that we are certain that the Cardinals who were talked to like dogs last week got some quick and immediate praise last night for their victory?…that the CCO regularly praises actions in Evansville and people who take positive actions like Ann Ennis of Keep Evansville Beautiful for her gateway efforts, Dunn Hospitality for private investment, and even the Evansville Redevelopment Commission when they finally hired an outside firm to VET the hotel proposals?

IS IT TRUE that yesterday’s win may just salvage the UL Cardinals season and lead them to a better year than last?…that the City of Evansville needs a series of big stake in the ground wins that are real and not fabricated for propaganda purposes of political origin to re-establish pride and belief in local government among our citizens?…that we got one this week with the announcement of the Dutch business setting up shop in Park 41?…that we got one last week with the opening of the Hampton Inn on North 41?…that we are eager to see if we will be getting another one soon with announcements regarding moving forward with the downtown Hotel and the McCurdy?…that after 50 years of floundering it is nice to have some days that it seems like some positive things are happening?

IS IT TRUE that it is not Evansville’s season that may be salvaged?…that what is at stake is Evansville’s very future as a relevant city?…that we support and encourage anyone who can to go out and get a win next week for the City of Evansville?