Throughout my campaign for judge, I have questioned the efficiency of the current Juvenile-Probate division of the Vanderburgh Superior Court. I will continue to do so. Under its current leadership, the court has become so inefficient, that it has become ineffective. For over three decades, the Superior Court maintained a well defined structure with “Paternity” cases being filed and resolved in the Juvenile division. These cases generally involve a single parent attempting to obtain child support or hoping to receive parenting time with their child. Emergency paternity hearings were being set up to 8 months in the future after being filed. For example, under Judge Niemeier’s system, if a parent were to file a paternity action to get parenting time with a 5 month old child, the parent would not likely set foot in the Juvenile Court until after the child’s 1st birthday. That’s unacceptable and yes, inefficient.

Paternity filings began to noticeably increase in 2008 and they quickly became backlogged due to the fact that Judge Niemeier refuses to hear paternity cases. This is not a new problem. Prior to the “Reorganization” of the Superior Court on September 1, 2012, paternity cases represented approximately 1/3 of this Superior Court division’s total case load. Not until I challenged my opponent for re-election to a third term, did Judge Niemeier feel compelled to act. Does making the first comprehensive change to Superior Court in 30 years just 8 weeks before the election seem coincidental? I’ll leave that up to the voters to decide. Regardless, I commend the other Superior judges for stepping in and picking up the slack.

I am running for judge because I want the opportunity to make a difference in our community. I’ve witnessed the current Juvenile Court system firsthand, and it’s in trouble. As an Evansville native and father to 2 young children, I have a vested interest in not only their safety and security, but of your children and grandchildren as well. I am not part of the establishment. I am not running as the attorney’s judge. I am not running for endorsements and awards. I am running as a new kind of people’s judge.

FOOT NOTE: POSTED WITHOUT OPINION, BIAS OR EDITING.

The City County Observer is pleased to honor Evansville City Councilwoman from the 3rd Ward Stephanie Brinkerhoff-Riley with a MOLE AWARD for 2012. Brinkerhoff-Riley’s courage and diligence in vetting contributed significantly to save the taxpayers of Evansville at least $4.8 Million by stopping the Earthcare Energy deal in its tracks. After the City Council approved this deal in a controversial 5 – 4 vote Stephanie expended hundreds of hours of personal effort to vet the concept and the management team. Eventually an opportunity to terminate the agreement was seized upon by the Winnecke Administration and as they say, the rest is history. For this exceptional effort the CCO has chosen Councilwoman Riley as one of only 5 recipients of this year’s Mole Award.

Stephanie Brinkerhoff Riley was born in Danville, Illinois in 1972. Her father was a union Boilermaker and farmer, and her mother a housewife. She moved with her family moved to Newburgh, Indiana in 1988, and graduated with honors from Castle High School. Stephanie went on to the University of Evansville and worked full-time to supplement her scholarships to pay her own expenses. Stephanie was the first person in her family to graduate from college.

She finished cum laude in 1996 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Administration and a minor in Political Science. She went on to put herself through law school at Indiana University Mauer School of Law in Bloomington. Graduating in 1999, Stephanie went to work as a business agent for the United Steelworkers of America, and was a third generation union member. After three years with the Union, she went on to work for a union-side labor law firm in Chicago.

The call of home tugged on Stephanie’s heartstrings so considering the Evansville area home, she returned to start her own law practice. Brinkerhoff-Riley, LLC was born in January of 2004, and Stephanie limited her practice to family law, criminal law and employment discrimination. In late 2006, she merged her practice with Gerling Law Offices.

Stephanie continued her training and became a registered Domestic Relations Mediator, an advocate of collaborative divorce and one of four Certified Family Law Specialists in southwestern Indiana.

From 2004 to 2011, Stephanie became very involved in the Evansville community, serving as the Chairman of the Family Law Section of the Evansville Bar Association, joining the Board of Directors of both the YWCA and the Jacobsville Area Community Corporation, serving as a Precinct Committeeperson and the Third Ward Leader for the Democrat Party, and as a mentor through the YWCA Live Y’ers Program. She also volunteered as the defense attorney in the Juvenile Court CHINS Drug Court, became President of the Vanderburgh County Democrat Club, was invited and attended Leadership Evansville, and won numerous awards for her pro bono legal work.

Her community involvement culminated in a run for the Third Ward City Council Seat in 2011. After winning the election and wanting to devote significant time to the position, Stephanie left Gerling and re-established her own firm. She now owns and runs Brinkerhoff -Riley, P.C., where her practice is limited to family law litigation.

Stephanie is married to Bradley Riley, a Tool & Die Maker and the Machine Shop Supervisor at Evana Automation. They have three sons and a daughter: Ty is a 21 year old college student at the University of Southern Indiana, Cole is a senior at North high school, and the twins, Zoe and Beck, are 30 months old.

From humble beginnings, Stephanie has largely created her own destiny. She backs down from nothing and is absolutely committed to making Evansville a better place to live. Staunchly independent, she is not afraid to take on both parties at the same time if need be. She’s smart, responsive to the voters, and capable of being Mayor someday.

Once again I feel compelled to respond to my opponent’s claims. While I have read post after post by supporters from each side, I have tried to stay above all of the petty gamesmanship. Unfortunately, when my opponent crosses the line and distorts my record and insults my staff I feel obliged to let the people of this county know the truth. In his last article, Mr. Blackard claims that “as many as 1000 cases have been stripped” from Juvenile Court due my inefficient system. This simply is not true.
Mr. Blackard should quit trying to be cute with his words, which mislead the public. Our race is not for a federal office, it is for a local judgeship. Attorneys and the fine people who work in the Civic Center know the truth of the Court`s recent restructuring. After having the same rotation system in place in Superior Court for over 30 years, and after a year of planning, the seven Superior Court judges instituted a change by having Judge Pigman handle major felonies, Judge Trockman handle drug cases, and the Judge Lloyd, D`Amour, Tornatta, and Kiely handle a new family law division which includes paternity cases. This new restructuring allows some of the judges to specialize and allows me and my staff more time to concentrate on children who have been abused and neglected. These neglect cases have almost quadrupled over the last ten years, due to the meth epidemic.
Juvenile Court was not “stripped” of 1000 cases. My court and staff were not being inefficient. Mr. Blackard`s comments are just political “spin” .The decision to restructure all of Superior Court was done to help our community. At our last forum in front of the Rotary, Mr. Blackard claimed he will take back these 1000 paternity cases into Juvenile Court where they belong. This would be a colossal mistake.
The new family division is working terrifically. By evenly distributing Superior Court`s workload over all of the judges the community is better served. The abused children cases are and should remain Juvenile Court`s number one priority. Anyone reading Mr. Blackard`s comments would think that cases were removed against my will, due to my lack of efficiency. He deliberately tried to make the public think something which is absolutely false.
Since I am responding to political “spin”, I might as well respond to another recent accusation of my opponent. I had originally ignored the controversy when Mr. Blackard implied that my campaign was destroying signs and it was my duty to put a stop to it. Let me make this perfectly clear, neither I nor my supporters are destroying signs. All of us candidates have had a lot of signs stolen and destroyed, but yet none of us went to the public accusing our opponents. Unfortunately, signs being destroyed are part of every campaign. I wish the police would catch one of the juveniles who are probably doing it to all of us. It would make my day. To accuse people of wrong doing without any facts is simply wrong. As a defense attorney who represents people charged with crimes, Mr. Blackard should know better than to make baseless claims. Quite frankly, I am getting tired of having my reputation smeared without one ounce of truth behind the claims. For over 20 years I have represented this county as a prosecutor and now as Judge and nobody has ever questioned my integrity and work ethic. It is sad that Mr. Blackard has resorted to this type of campaign.

FOOT NOTE: POSTED WITHOUT OPINION, BIAS OR EDITING.

VANDERBURGH COUNTY FELONY CHARGES

This feature is sponsored by Chris Walsh For Vanderburgh County Clerk. Chris Walsh is a veteran county administrator that strongly supports our local law enforcement professionals . Chris Walsh is a candidate that possess a non-partisan attitude with a consumer friendly demeanor. Chris also stands against unification of city and county governments.
This ad paid for by the committiee to elect Walsh Clerk.

Evansville, IN – Below is a list of felony cases that were filed by the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office on Friday, October 19, 2012.

Elizabeth Burton Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated Endangering a Person with a Passenger
Less Than 18 Years of Age – Class D Felony (Two Counts)
Neglect of a Dependent – Class D Felony (Two Counts)

Jeremy Jones Possession of a Controlled Substance – Class D Felony
Possession of Paraphernalia – Class A Misdemeanor

Jennifer Lefler Possession of Paraphernalia – Class A Misdemeanor
(Enhanced to a Class D Felony due to Prior Convictions)
Public Intoxication – Class B Misdemeanor

Richard McIntyre Possession of Methamphetamine – Class D Felony
Possession of Paraphernalia – Class A Misdemeanor
Possession of Marijuana – Class A Misdemeanor

Stephen Rainey Possession of Methamphetamine – Class D Felony
Possession of Paraphernalia – Class A Misdemeanor
(Enhanced to a Class D Felony due to Prior Convictions)
Possession of Marijuana – Class A Misdemeanor
(Habitual Substance Offender Enhancement)

Eric Sanders Possession of a Controlled Substance – Class D Felony (Two Counts)

Jeffery Thomas Carrying a Handgun without a License – Class A Misdemeanor (Two Counts)
(Enhanced to a Class C Felony due to Prior Convictions)

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

US Inflation Rises as Gasoline Lifts Consumer Prices in September 2012

October 16, 2012 · Filed Under Inflation

US inflation advanced in September for a second month as higher energy costs again lifted consumer prices, newly released data from the US government shows.

Consumer prices climbed 0.6 percent in September, matching the level in August that had registered as the biggest advance since mid-2009. Gains were led by higher fuel with the month’s sharpest increase of 7% tagged to gasoline prices. They are 6.8% higher than a year ago.

“For the second month in a row, the substantial increase in the all items index was mostly the result of an increase in the gasoline index, which rose 7.0 percent in September after increasing 9.0 percent in August. The other major energy indexes increased in September as well,” the US Labor Department reported Tuesday, October 16, in its monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) report.

Food prices continued higher by 0.1%, but the rate was slower than the previous month’s 0.2% pick-up. While dairy and beverage prices went up in September, meats, poultry, fish, and eggs fell 0.6% compared to the prior month when they went up 0.4%. After surging 1.9% in August, the cost of fresh fruits dropped 0.9%. Still, food prices over the past year have jumped 1.6%.

Higher food and gas prices take money from American consumers that would normally get spent elsewhere. When excluding these volatile categories that can deflate the economy, core US inflation rose 0.1 percent in September for a third month in a row.

“There isn’t any meaningful risk of short-term core inflation,” Bloomberg quoted Guy LeBas, chief fixed-income strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC in Philadelphia, who correctly forecast the gain in core prices. “When it comes to everyday goods and services, the lack of demand just isn’t going to push prices higher.”

In addition to more expensive food and gasoline, US consumers paid 2.0% more for shelter in September, a repeat of the August increase. Other advancing items included medical care (+0.3%), hospital services (+0.6%), airline fares (+1.4%) clothing (+0.3%) and tobacco (+0.2%). Major items to fall were new cars (-0.1%) and used cars (-1.4%) — the latter tumbling the most since February 2009 as dealers discounted to move newer models.

US inflation jumped 2.0 percent over the past 12 months, up from 1.7 percent in August.

Core US inflation also advanced 2.0 percent for the year through September compared with 1.9% for the year through August. The core US inflation rate is closely watched by the Federal Reserve as it helps determine where the central bank sets its key interest rate. The level is right at the Fed’s target of 2.0%.
“Core inflation was low and unthreatening (in September), but in truth neither matters to a Fed monetary policy committed to lowering unemployment,” Reuters quoted Joseph Trevisani, a market strategist at Worldwide Markets in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

Source: Inflation Calculator