Collectors Carnival Antiques & Collectibles Show 100 quality dealers in 3 buildings plus outside Hwy 41 North, 5 miles south of I-64. Saturday & Sunday 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. $2/person Saturday Preview Shopper 7-9 a.m. $5/person Friday Setup Shopper 3-8 p.m. $15/person
For More Information, visit http://www.collectorscarnivalshows.com/
Anthony Beavers, professor of philosophy and director of cognitive science at the University of Evansville, is one of five finalists nominated for the World Technology Award in Ethics, which will be presented tonight at the World Technology Summit in New York City.
The awards are presented in association with TIME, Fortune, CNN, Technology Review, and Science/AAAS and go to the peer-nominated individuals “who are the most innovative in science and technology,†according to the World Technology Network.
Beavers joins approximately 50 organizations and 100 individuals in 20 different categories, ranging from the arts to energy to health and medicine. Nominees for the 2012 World Technology Awards were selected by the WTN membership, which spans more than 40 countries.
The winners of the World Technology Awards will be announced tonight during a black-tie gala and ceremony at the Time-Life Building. The award announcements mark the close of the World Technology Summit, a two-day thought leadership conference held at the Time-Life Building.
A full list of finalists is available online at http://wtn.net/summit2012/finalists.php.
Beginning at 8:30 a.m., students will be painting, making repairs, and working on a variety of other projects. Work will continue until projects are complete – probably about 2 p.m. Students in the Evansville Housing Authority’s YouthBuild Evansville program are expected to help.
In the spring, students in USI’s AmeriCorps program and the YouthBuild program built two accessible garden beds and a shelving unit in the Culver Hoop House, an urban gardening partnership between the EVSC’s Culver Family Learning Center and the City of Evansville.
For more information, contact Marcey Head-Vanpell, AmeriCorps coordinator, at 812/430-1905.
JEREMY ROZANSKY
22 October 2012
Three interconnected forces brought the working-class, inland Southern California city of San Bernardino to insolvency: a burst housing bubble and lethargic economic growth; high police and firefighter salaries mandated by the city’s charter; and compounding pension obligations. Bankruptcy should give San Bernardino leverage to deal with the last two, but the big, structural changes required will not be easy or pleasant. Absent such changes, though, salaries and pensions will continue to grow faster than the city’s revenues, crowding out most other government functions and services. San Bernardino offers a telling illustration of austerity’s causes and effects: a tragic failure to think beyond the short term eventually necessitates painful reforms.
We already know something of what San Bernardino’s government will look like in the age of austerity. The city, with a poverty rate equivalent to Detroit’s and a homicide rate that has quietly surpassed Chicago’s, declared a fiscal emergency in early July and officially filed for bankruptcy on August 1. Deferring payments to bondholders just to make payroll, the city has been forced to trim its budget radically.
As a bridge to the bankruptcy proceedings, interim city manager Andrea Miller attempted to reduce the deficit by proposing a new budget called a pre-pendency plan. Her austerity budget, which passed with only a few changes after much haggling, will form the basis of the plan submitted to the bankruptcy court. The city projects a $45.8 million budget deficit, which the pre-pendency plan would reduce to $7.5 million by making “draconian†and “catastrophic†cuts, in the words of some city council members. Even then, the budget wouldn’t be balanced, and the plan doesn’t address an $18 million cash deficit from the previous fiscal year. Approximately $7 million in deficit reduction comes from transfers, either from special funds—for, say, road work or sewer repair—to the city’s general fund or from the federal government. The city would save another $9.4 million by continuing a 10 percent pay reduction for some municipal workers. The remaining $21.9 million in reductions comes from drastic cutbacks to services or deferred payments, mostly to the pension fund.
In cutting overall expenditures nearly 25 percent, the city leaves virtually no department untouched—including city hall, which will operate with a skeleton crew. Since 2006, the mayor’s office has gone from ten employees to three, counting the mayor. The city eliminated six positions from its information-technology department, cutting to the point at which “core†functions would be threatened. The city has combined departments, contracted out services, and even closed down its successful Operation Phoenix program, an anti-crime initiative Mayor Pat Morris launched shortly after taking office in 2005. San Bernardino’s community-policing effort will thus lose its two headquarters, which also served as community centers. Three of the city’s four libraries will close, while layoffs will hit 32 parks department employees and one-third of the city’s code-enforcement officers.
These savings, however, won’t be enough to erase the deficit. San Bernardino spends about three-quarters of its budget on public safety—meaning police and firefighters. Very little in the police budget is devoted to non-personnel expenses, so the cuts inevitably affect staffing levels. The new budget leaves the department with 320 employees, down from 379. Most of the reductions were to civilian support staff, not sworn officers. But the police will have a great deal more work, especially now that the department will pick up the slack from laid-off code-enforcement officers. Residents can assume that crime rates will continue to climb, especially given the demise of Operation Phoenix.
The firefighters’ union has been the most stubborn and transparently self-interested in San Bernardino. The average firefighter earns about $150,000 per year, and the union has resisted making any salary concessions. The city manager’s initial proposal would have eliminated 20 positions and either closed down a battalion or implemented rotating brownouts (that is, temporary shutdowns) of stations. City council members, some elected with help from the firefighters’ union and many worried about angry constituents facing slower response times, postponed a decision to explore alternative proposals. According to the city, the San Bernardino Fire Department has among the highest call loads in the country for a department its size.
San Bernardino’s austerity plan leaves an atrophied city government, but essential functions remain in place. Crime will likely go up, but it won’t necessarily skyrocket. Greek-style looting and arson appear unlikely. Closing three of four libraries isn’t ideal, but it isn’t the end of civilization, either. At the same time, however, the deep cuts do make San Bernardino an even less hospitable place. Businesses will be even more skeptical about moving to a city where the government can’t afford to fill potholes or respond quickly to crimes because it has been compromised by decades of poor decision-making. Much of the city’s deficit reduction is in deferred payments that have recently earned the ire of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and the Securities and Exchange Commission; under a “best-case scenario,†the budget is unlikely to be balanced even with these cuts and deferrals. San Bernardino can balance its budget only by boosting revenues, which requires more businesses, not fewer. It’s not clear how long the city can continue on this unsustainable path.
Perhaps bankruptcy will prove the ultimate salve, cutting away the structural inefficiencies (from pensions to high municipal salaries) that went unaddressed for years. The city’s options are now limited, because it waited too long to address these problems. The United States has many structural problems of its own—most notably Medicare—and, as San Bernardino shows, myopia is never recommended. San Bernardino is a tragedy—and a warning to the rest of the country.
Herbert Dan Adams, MD, MBA, & at-large Evansville City Council member has been chosen as a MOLE AWARD winner by the City County Observer for his diligent efforts as a councilman that paved the way for the enhanced smoking restrictions adopted by the Evansville City Council in 2012.
Dr. Adams a1982 transplant who has adopted Evansville as his home eloquently states his current goal in life is “to be the BEST At Large Member of the Evansville City Council I canâ€. In addition to his duties as a Councilman, Dr. Adams has a full life serving the community on the Evansville Airport Board, Port Authority, as a substitute high school teacher EVSC; a Lecturer at Signature School, the University of Evansville, the USI School of Nursing, and the IU Medical School – Evansville.
Prior to giving in to the internal compass that pointed to public service, Dr. Adams spent his life as a cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon in the Evansville area for 26 years after 7 years in the same capacity in Montana. Prior to entering the world of private medicine Dr. Adams served the United States of America as a ship’s surgeon on the USS John F. Kennedy and as a Commander in the United States Naval Reserve. During his service Dr. Adams was awarded the Navy Achievement Medal for Professional Excellence.
Dr. Adams was graduated from Yale University in American Studies and Pre-Med before having his MD conveyed onto him by the Harvard Medical School. Following medical school he served as an intern at the Brigham Hospital in Boston, and completed residencies at the University of Pennsylvania. After his time as an active member of the military Dr. Adams completed fellowships at the Texas Heart Institute and the Baylor University Medical Center. Recognizing the benefit of a business education to complement his medical practice Dan completed an Executive MBA in Health Care Management at the Olin School of Business, St. Louis, MO
Civic duty has long been a good habit of Dr. Adams who has served in the promotion of both soccer and hockey in Evansville and Missoula, Montana. He takes pride in his membership in the Evansville Northside Kiwanis Club as a devoted soccer coach at the Boys & Girls Club.
It was his time as a surgeon that inspired the passion for public health and the candid willingness to share the truth about the positive health implications of restricting smoking in public. There are many people who were instrumental in the passing of the Evansville Smoking Ordinance in 2012. Without the efforts on the City Council by Dr. H. Dan Adams this successful accomplishment may have taken much longer than it did and for this he is honored with a Mole Award for his tireless promotion of public health.
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 Monday, October 22, 2012.
Derek Clark Intimidation – Class D Felony
Criminal Trespass – Class A Misdemeanor
Criminal Mischief – Class A Misdemeanor
Public Intoxication – Class B Misdemeanor
Dylan Farmer Forgery – Class C Felony
Fraud – Class D Felony
Conversion – Class A Misdemeanor
Latonya Harris Battery by Bodily Waste –Class D Felony
Criminal Trespass – Class A Misdemeanor
Battery –Class B Misdemeanor
George Schmadel Sexual Battery – Class D Felony
Jerry Thomas Child Molesting – Class A Felony (Three Counts)
Obstruction of Justice – Class D 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
Rather than take a 3.5 hour meeting into 4 hours, I have opted to release a statement regarding my vote on the 2013 budget. I voted against the 2013 budget for the following reasons:
1. The 2013 budget proposed by the Administration is financially irresponsible and short-sighted. With less money next year from Aztar, the need to find $10 million dollars for a downtown hotel, and only $3 million in the rainy day fund, a $3 to $5 million dollar cushion between revenue and expenditures is not enough. The Ford Center and Centre are operating at losses and the downtown TIF and food and beverage tax revenues are not producing enough money to cover the loans we took out to build them. We are having to use Aztar funds, which are normally used for capital projects such as police cars, to make up the difference. It’s difficult to imagine how we are going to borrow an additional $10 million next year to incentivize the building of the downtown hotel. With the Centre not being paid off until 2015, this bloated budget will most likely stall hotel construction until 2015 or later. The local economy needs the hotel project. If we could have saved $10 million in the 2013 budget, we could be building the downtown hotel next year without borrowing any money. Money for Keep Evansville Beautiful, Leadership Evansville and other unnecessary expenditures such as increasing the flower budget for the Parks Department have led to a budget that reads more like a child’s Christmas wish list.
2. What was believed to be the final budget was not emailed to City Council until October 19th, however it was adjusted yet again when we arrived to vote. The budget is approximately 200 pages long and somewhat incomprehensible. It is full of abbreviations that are nonsensical and has literally hundreds of thousands of dollars buried in categories labeled “contractual services” and “miscellaneous.” It is not in a format that is user friendly, and it is nearly impossible to decipher. It is unacceptable that the final budget is not provided in a user friendly format with enough time to actually go through it. The entire schedule for reviewing and voting on the budget should be started much earlier so that City Council is not essentially forced to vote a mere days before the deadline.
3. The budget contains nearly $1 million dollars for the destruction of Roberts Stadium. Three years ago, Roberts Stadium was a profitable venue for the City. However, it was systematically attacked and the public misled as to its condition. A refusal to maintenance the building, a financing agreement for the Ford Center that required the removal of all of its seating, and an auction that sold the fixtures for pennies on the dollar has forced the destruction of a landmark in this community. City Council was misled at its last meeting as to the cost to mothball the building. We were told that it was $25 to $30 thousand dollars a month to maintain the building. The records revealed otherwise. In its most expensive month last year (January), water, telephone, pump monitoring, gas and electric was approximately $14 thousand. An average cost to mothball the stadium would be approximately $10 thousand a month. We are destroying a perfectly good building, that is paid for, due to a complete lack of creativity.
4. As of the time of the vote on the 2013 budget, the major accounts of the City were not reconciled. Although it is doubtful that reconciliation would create major changes in balances, it is irresponsible to vote for a budget without certainty as to the funds.
5. The 2013 budget contains unreasonable raises for a select few employees.
6. The Fire Fighters are still in negotiations for a contract. It is not appropriate to vote on a budget where the end result of the negotiations, and therefore the final cost, is not known.
I am available for questions at 812-499-3384
Stephanie Brinkerhoff Riley
Excerpts:
“Behold the Obama Administration’s new public works plan. Sue cities for polluting waterways and then as part of a settlement require them to spend, er, “invest” billions in extraneous sewer improvements. The White House doesn’t even need legislation to pour this money down the drain.”
“The Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency have taken enforcement actions against 25 cities over the last four years for allegedly violating the Clean Water Act, and there are another 772 on their list.”
“The EPA says this extraordinary intrusion on local sovereignty is justified because cities are discharging waste into waterways during heavy rains.”
“The U.S. Conference of Mayors says the EPA’s heavy-handed management can’t be justified by the supposed environmental or economic benefits.”
“Fossil fuel CEOs couldn’t have said it better.”
“Since cities don’t have that much spare change, they’ve been making improvements incrementally. But the EPA is demanding that they accelerate their work, which means they’ll have to issue bonds as well as raise residents’ water and sewer rates. David Berger, the Democratic mayor of Lima, Ohio—which has a median household income of $26,000—told Congress this summer that the EPA’s consent decree could raise the average resident’s $333 annual sewer bill by $539. Call the surcharge the Obama storm tax.”
“New York City’s deputy mayor for operations Cas Holloway is less charitable. The EPA, he wrote in “The Environmental Forum” journal this month, is “treating cities as it might have treated Standard Oil early last century.” The agency is “imposing billions of dollars of unfunded mandates without a clear scientific and public health basis for doing so.”
Perhaps by targeting cities the EPA is merely trying to show that it’s an equal opportunity harassing regulator. To adapt one of the President’s favorite phrases, everyone deserves a fair shakedown.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444799904578052673425236066.html
IS IT TRUE October 23, 2012
IS IT TRUE that the CCO article on “most accurate polls” is linked to by political websites all over the world?…this article is now the most read article ever on the CCO by a factor of 2 and climbing?…that it took the CCO 3 months to get hits from every state in the union back in 2010 when we started counting?…that is happening before lunch on a regular basis nowadays with the top locations of readers outside of Evansville being Washington, New York, and California?…this one article will have more hits in October than the entire CCO had in October of 2010?…we are eager to see what the next 2 weeks brings in terms of traffic?
IS IT TRUE the Gallup Poll taken during October 15th and 16th is crystal clear with respect to the most important things that people are most concerned about and what the issues are that will dominate their choice on whom to vote for?…that in order of importance those polled ranked the economy first at 37%, unemployment second at 26%, and the federal budget deficit 3rd at 12%?…these three issues that are causing most Americans discomfort all have to do with prosperity and financial management and add up to 75% of the electorate’s areas of concern?…no other topic even commands double figures?…that when it comes to foreign policy that was the subject of last night’s debate only 4% indicated a concern for foreign aid being handed out which is very much about a trashed out economy at home and 3% are concerned with the war in Afghanistan?…that given these concerns it is hard to see how last night’s debate however entertaining it may be should make little difference in what happens on November 6th?…that men and women who seem to have a difference in presidential preference substantially agree on the issues of importance?
IS IT TRUE that the fact checkers for last night’s debate came out swinging at both sides right after the two candidates for President left the stage?…that both candidates however stately they may have looked and sounded are credited with some real whoppers about each other last night?…both polls and focus groups seemed to indicate that the President won the debate on technical merit but that they cared little about the subject matter?…the subject matter that Gallup and other polls are finding that people care about is the future of the US economy?…that with 75% plus of those asked voting on the economy and with 65% of those giving Romney kudos on the economy one would expect that Mitt Romney is headed to the White House in the absence of something pretty heinous coming out?…65% of 75% is 49% and that if 49% of the electorate are hardened for Romney at this stage of the game it is inevitable that he will end up with at least 51% of the popular vote?…that given this situation and the strategic importance of Ohio that this election will come down to the President’s charisma in the State of Ohio?…one of the fact check items in Romney’s favor from last night’s debate was his version of what his op-ed in the Wall Street Journal actually said he would do about General Motors?
IS IT TRUE if Romney gets that across in Ohio he will be President?…one striking thing that came out at the end of the debate is that both candidates still seem to think that their MOJO at home translates into MOJO abroad?…one has to wonder if they see or listen to the mobs in the street ripping up and biting into American flags like Orcs ready to attack Helm’s Deep as potential adoring fans?…in the Middle East which has been a hot spot for generations America is not liked, is not going to be liked, and the sooner our leaders get that through their heads the better?
IS IT TRUE that all politics is local and that last night Evansville’s City Council was told that the Ford Center’s financial loss in its first full year of operation is projected to be $300,000, and that next year’s expected loss is $341,000?…the CCO has sounded the alarm on this reality for roughly a year now and have been scoffed at for doing so?…these numbers are so close to the shortfall in Riverboat money that it is eerie?…that $3.4 Million of the notes on the Ford Center will be paid from Riverboat money that could have been used for public safety or critical infrastructure?..there is nothing critical about temples to sport?…we are pleased to report that three members of the Evansville City Council (Riley, Adams, & Lindsey) had the presence of mind to vote NO on a budget that does not start from a reconciled set of books?…if the MIPS software is humming along now as stated at the last council meeting that should only delay the reconciliation by a few weeks?
IS IT TRUE we watched the final stages of City of Evansville budget hearings on WINN this evening? …we were extremely impressed with City Council Budget Chairman John Friend, CPA on how he conducted himself throughout this entire budget hearing process? …we were also extremely unimpressed with the presentation of the Evansville Fire Chief’s arguments concerning his requests for increases in his 2013 budget? …that he showed disrespect towards City Councilmen Al Lindsey, John Friend and Dr. Dan Adams during the televised hearing? …we also found it disrespectable that the Fire Chief was chewing gum while he was in front of City Council when he was defending his budget and answering questions from City Council members? …we bet he didn’t act this way when he addressed his Commanding Officer when he honorably served on a United States Navy “Nuclear Submarine” in years past?
The Fresh Beat Band, Nickelodeon’s popular preschool music group and stars of the hit TV series of the same name, are adding a second leg (50 cities, 70 performances) to their current sold-out nationwide concert tour and will play Evansville, IN on October 24, 2012 at The Centre. After a brief break from the road, the tour will resume Aug. 23 in Melbourne, Fla. More than 200,000 fans will have seen the live show by the end of the first run making it one of this year’s most successful music tours. Tickets and Fresh Beat Band VIP packages will be available at www.freshbeatbandlive.com and www.ticketmaster.com beginning Friday, April 13. Nickelodeon and Ticketmaster will offer pre-sale tickets and VIP packages beginning Thursday, April 5, at 10 a.m. local time in each city. Citi® card members will also have access to pre-sale tickets beginning Thursday, April 5, at 10 a.m. through Citi’s Private Pass Program at www.CitiPrivatePass.com.
“The Fresh Beat Band Live in Concert tour has ignited a fan frenzy and we’re thrilled that so many kids and parents want to come see the Fresh Beats perform live,†said Paula Kaplan, Executive Vice President, Talent Strategy and West Coast Operations, Nickelodeon Group. “The additional tour dates will give more kids across the country an opportunity see their favorite rock stars – Kiki, Marina, Twist and Shout.â€
The Fresh Beat Band Live in Concert Tour Presented By Nickelodeon features Kiki (Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer), Shout (Thomas Hobson), Marina (Tara Perry) and Twist (Jon Beavers) performing The Fresh Beat Band hits from seasons one, two and three of the Nickelodeon live-action music series that teaches preschoolers about music appreciation. Songs performed include “Here We Go, “A Friend Like You, “Bananas,†and “Just Like A Rockstar,†among others. The first-ever The Fresh Beat Band soundtrack – The Fresh Beat Band: Music From The Hit TV Show – is currently available on iTunes and in stores everywhere. The album features 19 catchy, preschool-friendly tracks also culled from three seasons of the TV series and has been number-one on the iTunes Children’s Music chart since its release in January.
