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IS IT TRUE May 28, 2013

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Mole #3 Nostradamus of Local Politics
Mole #3 Nostradamus of Local Politics

IS IT TRUE May 28, 2013

IS IT TRUE the crime sprees in Evansville seem to just continue unabated as this Memorial Day weekend of 2013 the North Main Street retail district was the site of a DRIVE BY SHOOTING?…of course this one occurred outside of an establishment known as the Lucky Lady that most folks would say is more appropriate for Amsterdam than for little ole’ Evansville because they deal in pornography?…none the less they are a long term local business and do not deserve to be the victim of a crime?…much to many people’s surprise there are more than a proportional share of porn places in Evansville for those who are not aware?…we surely hope that the rogue members of our citizenry who think it is just fine to commit a DRIVE BY SHOOTING are apprehended, charged, convicted, and sent away to prison for a long time?

IS IT TRUE there are those in the Vanderburgh County Republican Party who are in apologist mode for the efficient way that Mayor Lloyd Winnecke has made a seamless transition to become the rebirth of former Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel?…in the case of the $53 Million Johnson Controls contract that the Weinzapfel Administration shoved through right before leaving office high ranking Republicans have described the deal as IDIOTIC publicly and have been even more graphic in private conversations?…many of these people are giving Mayor Winnecke a pass for being obligated by former Mayor Weinzapfel’s lame duck signature?…on this subject Mayor Winnecke does not deserve a pass at all as he has had every opportunity to be rid of this project in a perfectly legal way and chose instead to breathe life back into with appeal after appeal to the Indiana Utilities Regulatory Commission (IURC) until he finally got their approval with marginal analysis?…Mayor Winnecke has failed to get City Council support and is threatening to use Weinzapfel’s contract to do an end run around the council and get the financing elsewhere if they fail to vote in favor of the bonds needed to do the deal?…if that is the actions of someone saddled with an albatross around his neck then the old Roger’s Jewelry Building is Times Square?…no matter what friends and supporters rationalize when it comes to the Johnson Controls deal Mayor Winnecke is nothing more than the reincarnation of Mayor Weinzapfel?

IS IT TRUE Mayor Winnecke is finding a large supporter for the downtown Convention Hotel project that has grown from $30 Million to $70 Million adding retail, restaurant, and luxury apartments to the package under his administration?…the devoted supporter of this project with all of the bells and whistles included is the Evansville Courier and Press that seems to run multiple editorials every week expressing blind support for the project?…this week they went a step further and called out three members of the Evansville City Council for questioning the financial feasibility of tossing $37.5 Million taxpayer dollars at a private developer from Branson, Missouri?…the CP even downsized the $37.5 Million to $35.7 Million in the editorial?…the CP as you may recall was in full blind support of consolidation the City of Evansville and Vanderburgh County governments last fall and saw that go straight down in flames at the ballot box?…not one of these editorials used any analysis from the CVB or anywhere else to justify supporting the project?…any fool can figure out that with a hotel next to the Centre that it will be easier to attract some insignificant conventions to town?…what any fool can’t do and what neither the Office of the Mayor, the CVB, nor the Courier have done is shown the analysis that shows how the hotel will have even a break even return on investment?

IS IT TRUE this HOLY TRINITY OF SPENDING seems only to justify blindly spending $37.5 Million taxpayer dollars by saying “other cities do the same thing”?…our local government, its surrogate CVB, and the flagship local newspaper all have forgotten the lesson their mother taught them about doing what the other kids do even when it is nonsensical or can do harm?…in the spirit of paragraph two the mantra of the Winnecke Administration seems to be “WE WILL DO WHAT JOHNNY DID BECAUSE JOHNNY DID IT”?…lots of folks around town need to think back to their childhood when their mommas taught them about how not to follow the herd and especially not to do what Johnny does?

VANDERBURGH COUNTY FELONY CHARGES

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nick herman

Evansville, IN – Below is a list of felony cases that were filed by the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office on Friday, May 24, 2013.

Connie Lockwood: Dealing in Methamphetamine-Class B Felony
Maintaining a Common Nuisance-Class D Felony
Possession of Chemical Reagents or Precursors with Intent to Manufacture a Controlled Substance-Class D Felony
Criminal Recklessness-Class B Misdemeanor

Johnny Gray: Dealing in Methamphetamine-Class B Felony
Maintaining a Common Nuisance-Class D Felony
Possession of Chemical Reagents or Precursors with Intent to Manufacture a Controlled Substance-Class D Felony
Criminal Recklessness-Class B Misdemeanor

Ericka Smallings: Theft-Class D Felony

Bryant Faulkner: Criminal Confinement-Class B Felony
Battery Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury-Class C Felony

Joshua Adams: Unlawful Possession or Use of a Legend Drug-Class D Felony
Unlawful Possession of Syringe-Class D Felony
Possession of Marijuana-Class A Misdemeanor

Inez Wilkerson: Intimidation-Class D Felony
Resisting Law Enforcement-Class A Misdemeanor
Public Intoxication-Class B Misdemeanor

Angela Lydon: Theft-Class D Felony

For further information on the cases listed above, or any pending case, please contact Kyle Phernetton at 812.435.5688 or via e-mail at KPhernetton@vanderburghgov.org

Under Indiana law, all criminal defendants are considered to be innocent until proven guilty by a court of law.

EPD Activity Reports: Memorial Day Weekend 2013

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EPD Activity Report: May 27, 2013

EPD Activity Report: May 26, 2013

EPD Activity Report: May 25, 2013

EPD Activity Report: May, 24, 2013

Thanking and Celebrating Those Who Protect Our Country

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With May comes many celebrations like the Indianapolis 500 and graduations. But May also brings with it the remembrance of Memorial Day.
Memorial Day honors the men and women who have selflessly served our state and nation. It’s a time where we reflect upon those who have given their lives to protect us and preserve our freedoms that we enjoy today.

Military Families May Need Help With Mental Health

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Depression, anxiety and sleep problems can arise during long deployments of loved ones

A leading pediatricians’ group is highlighting the plight of children in military families in a new report.

Tours of duty can last up to 18 months, and studies have shown that one in four children of active-duty service members has symptoms of depression. One in three children experiences excessive worry, and half of children have trouble sleeping, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) report.

These problems can be even worse when there are other psychological issues in the family, according to the report, which was published online May 27 and in the June print issue of the journal Pediatrics.

During deployments, preschoolers could become anxious and withdraw. Children between 5 and 17 years old also are at greater risk for emotional and behavioral problems, the report said. And the situation can get worse when kids’ parents are on extended deployments.

Meanwhile, the AAP advised that parents or caregivers who remain at home also are under greater stress. This could, in turn, affect the mental health and well-being of children.

Because half of all children of active-duty military service members are taken care of by nonmilitary pediatricians before, during and after deployment, the AAP emphasized that all health care providers must recognize the mental-health needs of their patients with deployed parents, and those of other family members.

“By understanding the military family and the stressful experiences of parental wartime deployment, all pediatricians — both active duty and civilian — and other health care providers can be the front line in caring for U.S. military children and their families,” report co-author Dr. Benjamin Siegel said in an AAP news release.

“In the past 10 years, more than 2 million children in the U.S. have experienced the emotional and stressful event of being separated from a loved one deployed for active duty,” report co-author Dr. Beth Ellen Davis said in the release. “Most children cope and adapt quite well, but all children experience a heightened sense of fear and worry during a parent’s deployment. It’s important for pediatricians caring for these families to be aware of their family’s situation so they can guide them appropriately.”

The Heart Hospital at Deaconess Gateway Named Among the Top 5% in the Nation for Outstanding Patient Experience by Healthgrades®

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In its 2013 report, Healthgrades, the nation’s most trusted, independent source of physician information and hospital quality outcomes, named The Heart Hospital at Deaconess Gateway in the top 5% of hospitals for outstanding patient experience. Hospitals named to the list are identified as providing outstanding performance in the delivery of a positive experience for patients during their hospital stay.

The Healthgrades report focuses on the relationship between specific actions and behaviors taking place within the hospital and the likelihood of patients to recommend a hospital. For its latest installment, Healthgrades analyzed patient satisfaction for 3,837 hospitals in the country using Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) hospital survey data obtained from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The data is generated when randomly selected patients are asked to answer 27 questions following their hospital stay. The questions are then rolled into 10 satisfaction measures and used to evaluate the level of patient satisfaction at that particular hospital.

The 10 measures are:
1. Overall hospital rating
2. Recommendation to family/friends
3. Communication with doctors
4. Communication with nurses
5. Responsiveness of Hospital staff
6. Pain Management
7. Communication about medicines
8. Discharge information
9. Cleanliness
10. Quietness

To be eligible for the Healthgrades Outstanding Patient Experience Awardâ„¢, a hospital must meet the clinical quality threshold for this award and have data for a minimum number of HCAHPS surveys.

The Unofficial Start to Summer is Here

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Indiana-To help ensure the safety of all motorists during the Memorial Day weekend, Indiana State Police will be participating in “Operation CARE”, (Combined Accident Reduction Effort), and “SWDUIEP”, (Statewide Driving Under the Influence Project). Troopers will be specifically looking for drivers who speed, follow too closely, make unsafe lane changes, and fail to buckle up or to properly restrain children. Troopers will also be aggressively looking for impaired drivers.

Indiana State Police will also be participating in the “Click it or Ticket” enforcement campaign through June 2nd. The campaign will include not only the Indiana State Police, but more than 250 local law enforcement agencies throughout the state.

Additionally, troopers and motor carrier inspectors will work extra hours to ensure commercial motor vehicles are operating safely. Their efforts will concentrate on enforcing traffic, logbook, size, weight and mechanical violations as well as illegal interstate parking.

Indiana State Police encourage all motorists to observe the following safety tips:
• Make sure you’re well rested before traveling.
• Avoid tailgating. Remember the two-second rule.
• Obey posted speed limits and always use turn signals when turning and making lane changes.
• Make sure everyone is properly buckled up.
• Never drink and drive. If you’re going to consume alcohol, make sure you have a designated driver.

The Indiana State Police would like everyone to remember that driving comes with important responsibilities to yourself, to your passengers and to other drivers.

Digital Media Meets Historic House Tour

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Twenty-first century technology catches up with the historic house tour at the concluding event of Evansville’s observation of Preservation Month. This program is scheduled for Wednesday, May 29 at 7 p.m. in the Reitz Home Carriage House.

The first “modern” presentation features Reitz Museum Home Director and Preservation Commission Chairman Mat Rowe’s virtual tour of the Riverside Historic District. This will be a power-point presentation discussing the characteristics of various styles of nineteenth-century residential architecture in the Riverside District.

The second part of the program will be “cutting-edge” presentations featuring the latest technology. Students from Jon Carl’s “Feel the History” class at Reitz High School produced this pioneering expansion to personal electronic media.

Featured will be four or five electronic programs highlighting the history and architecture of select houses in the /Riverside Historic District. These can serve as video walking tours of the district. The idea is that this will be expanded in the future and that people will be able to download them on their mobile electronic devices using QR codes.

Bucshon, Whitfield to hold I-69 Press Conference

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220px-Larry_Bucshon,_official_portrait,_112th_Congress

Representatives Larry Bucshon (IN-08) and Ed Whitfield (KY-01) will hold a press conference to discuss potential barriers to completing the I-69 Bridge that would connect the I-69 corridors in Indiana and Kentucky. Mayor Lloyd Winnecke of Evansville and Mayor Steve Austin of Henderson will also give remarks.

The press conference will follow a meeting hosted by the Chamber of Commerce of Southwest Indiana with stakeholders of the I-69 project. The group will discuss the barriers to bridge construction, facilitate further discussion between Kentucky and Indiana DOTs concerning the project, and create an initial plan of action.

Bucshon and Whitfield will receive input from local and state leaders about what possible role the Federal government can and should play in facilitating this project.

Who: Rep. Larry Bucshon (IN-08)

Rep. Ed Whitfield (KY-01)

Mayor Lloyd Winnecke (Evansville)

Mayor Steve Austin (Henderson)

What: I-69 Press Conference
When: Tuesday, May 28, 2013 from 11:00 AM CDT

Where: Chamber of Commerce of Southwest Indiana – 318 Main St #401 Evansville, IN 47708

Other participants include:

· Christy Gillenwater, President and CEO, Chamber of Commerce of Southwest Indiana

· Jeff Mulzer, Mulzer Crushed Stone, Chairman of Hoosier Voices for I-69 and Vice Chairman of Chamber of Commerce of Southwest Indiana

· Steve Schaefer, Chief of Staff for Mayor Lloyd Winnecke and Board Member of Hoosier Voices for I-69

· Brad Schneider, Henderson Chamber of Commerce

· Troy Woodruff, Chief of Staff, INDOT

· Sam Sarvis, Deputy Commissioner, Major Program Management, INDOT

· Andy Goebel, Evansville Regional Business Committee

· Dennis Faulkenberg, Appian Advisors

· Laurie Maudlin, Appian Advisors

· David Holt, Vice President, Operations & Business Development, Conexus Indiana

· Representatives from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet

· Kentucky Chamber Representative

Statehouse Report‏ By Gail Riecken

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Gail Riecken

INDIANAPOLIS – It’s been nearly a month since the end of the 2013 legislative session, and I’m still trying to figure out some of the things that went down. Maybe you can help me understand it…

Why would the majorities tell charter schools that they don’t have to pay back $91 million in loans given them by the state? That provision is tucked away in a little corner of the new state budget. It was added at the last minute. As far as I know, no charter school asked for this break.

Why didn’t they give the same break to other taxpayer-supported public schools – like the ones here in Evansville and Vanderburgh County?

After all, public schools had to bear the brunt of close to $600 million in cuts in state support under the last administration. That funding was not restored, and judging by the way some folks are talking, I guess we’re supposed to think that funding never existed.

A suspicious sort might start to think that the people in charge of state government have it in for most public schools.

Think about it….

If you’re the parents of children who are home schooled or go to a private school, you get a $1,000 deduction on your taxes for every child to help defray the costs of their textbooks and other supplies.

If you’re the parents of children who go to public schools, you get no deductions and you still pay the textbook tax.

The Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation is going to get a 2.2 percent increase in state support in the first year of the new budget, and a 1 percent increase in the second year. How will that enable them to keep up with inflation? That won’t even help them make up the support that was cut the last few years.

The likelihood that our local schools will get the level of performance awards we deserve is remote…not when that money is earmarked for wealthy suburban systems like Zionsville, Carmel, West Lafayette and Hamilton Southeastern.

I have talked before about the fact that our state now supports three different types of schools—public, charter, and private—with one pool of money. The size of the pot remains pretty much the same, but it’s being divvied up in ways that give more and more state support to charters and private schools and less to public schools. And remember that public schools don’t get to pick and choose who attends there.

I used to think the idea of strangling public education was a delusion, but now I’m not so sure. Every day, I’m beginning to see that we are moving toward a time when we privatize all education.

I guess if we turn all of our schools into little businesses, it will make people forget that we aren’t doing enough to help the real businesses in our state. We certainly aren’t doing much for economic development in southwest Indiana, that’s for sure.

Consider these circumstances from the last session.

A resounding number of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in both chambers supported a plan to give taxpayer dollars to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway—a private corporation. Under this grand plan, the state loans the Speedway money, then gives them the money to pay back the loan.

You heard that correctly.

When we weren’t doing that, many of the same lawmakers chose to effectively kill off the proposed Syngas plant in Rockport, rather than coming up with a reasonable plan that would have enabled the project to proceed with more protections for taxpayers.

Instead, we chose to ditch a project that would have meant 1,500 construction jobs to build the plant, another 200 to staff the facility once it’s built, an additional 300 in the mining industry, and untold numbers of jobs for companies to supply this plant. All of those jobs look to be gone.

Right now, there are a number of projects in Indianapolis that are supported by all Hoosiers, even those who don’t live there, including the football stadium, the Indianapolis Convention Center, the state Fairgrounds and now the Speedway.

We are told about the benefits that come from these projects, and asked to support them, no matter how little they help the rest of this state.

Yet when the Rockport issue was tossed aside with little consideration for its impact on southwest Indiana, we must grin and bear it.

These are the kinds of things that make people think that state government cares too much about Indianapolis, and too little about the rest of Indiana.

What do you think?

As always, please contact me if you have any questions, comments or concerns related to our state government. Here is how you can stay in touch: call my office toll-free at 1-800-382-9842; write to me in care of the Indiana House of Representatives, 200 W. Washington St., Indianapolis, IN 46204; or email me at h77@iga.in.gov.

State Representative Gail Riecken
Indiana House District 77

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