IS IT TRUE that the Vanderburgh County Council didn’t directly include funds in their 2012 Budget so they can join the City of Evansville to pay for a much needed Information Technology Assessment Audit? …we are pleased that the City of Evansville directly put funds for this Audit in their 2012 Budget? ….we join 5th Ward City Councilmen and Budget Chairmen, John Friend-CPA call for this City of Evansville and Vanderburgh County funded department begin to do a long overdue and detailed financial assessment of this little known but important publically funded department? …we now are awaiting to see if the past Budget Chairmen and newly elected President of the Vanderburgh County Council, James Raben shall put the money on the table so this extremely important Assessment Audit can begin?

IS IT TRUE that it’s time for the Indiana State Board of Accounts to send their annual Audit Survey Questioners to each Evansville City Council members so they can express their option concerning the financial decisions and activities of the prior city administration?…that we can’t wait to get a copy of their responses?

IS IT TRUE that longtime friend of the City County Observer and radio host extraordinaire Les Shivley who shared his Thursday show on WGBF with the CCO publisher Joe Wallace is under consideration for appointment to the Indiana Supreme Court?…that we at the CCO of course support Mr. Shivley for this appointment if this is something that he wants out of life?…that while it is always positive for Evansville to have a presence in state affairs it is doubly positive when that presence is held by a person of knowledge and virtue?…that we congratulate Les on being a finalists for this opportunity?

IS IT TRUE that speaking of the Indiana Supreme Court that the authority of the Speaker of the House Brian Bosma to levy fines upon the Democrat members who willfully refused to show up for work is now going to be determined by the Supreme Court?…that we are sure if our friend Les were there that he would be casting his vote in favor of levying these fines?…that of all the disappointments that the CCO has had with Democrats that we consider to be friends that he flight to Illinois last year and the refusal to show up this year are absolutely the worst transgressions?…that we are proud that like it or not the Democrats did eventually show up and do their job of voting on the Right to Work bill that most of them opposed?…that we are also sure that the sentiment of the State of Indiana was with Right to Work and going to work or the Democrat contingent would have flea-bagged it to Illinois again?…that they took the pulse of the state and did what they knew that they had to do to have so much as a prayer at being re-elected in 2012?

IS IT TRUE that the State of Indiana is also considering making consolidation efforts to have the requirement of offering “threshold rejection” as many have been demanding in the case of Evansville-Vanderburgh?…that threshold rejection whether one likes it or not is the right thing to do because the consent of the governed should always be required when a big voting block attempts to use the ballot box to take over a smaller voting block?…that goes triple when the large voting block is dysfunctional and in need of the revenue from the small voting block that is for the most part doing just fine?…that if this passes at the state level that it will not affect the upcoming vote on consolidation?…that if the state passes this that Evansville-Vanderburgh should either postpone the vote or allow threshold election?…that if this does not happen that this will be the last place in Indiana to hold a consolidation election without threshold rejection?…that will make us the poster child for why annexation at the ballot box was outlawed?

IS IT TRUE that there was a public forum to discuss the future plans for Roberts Stadium yesterday the drew roughly 40 attendees?…that a number of ideas were put on the table but that much more analysis and some more ideas along with some investment dollars will be needed to save Roberts from the wrecking ball that the former Mayor envisioned was in its future?…that one of the criteria for the ideas is that they can’t compete with the Ford Center?…that is a tough nut to crack since both facilities are perfectly capable of holding concerts with headliners drawing over 5,000+ people at $70 per ticket being appropriate for the Ford Center but up an coming bands at $10 a ticket with an expected draw of 1,000 or more being perfectly viable for Roberts buy infeasible for the Ford Center?…that back in the day when Evansville drew many bands to town the Coliseum and Roberts were both frequently booked and the fact that Roberts was not chicken of the Coliseum allowed the people of greater Evansville the opportunity to see bands like KISS, Foghat, Thin Lizzy, REO Speedwagon, Blue Oyster Cult and a host of others at the Coliseum who returned to Roberts a few years later when they developed a large following?…that this requirement that the Ford Center should have no competition is a cowardly myth that seems to have been designed for the political aggrandizement of the former Mayor?…that if the Ford Center is afraid of Roberts that makes about as much sense as a Rottweiler being afraid of a poodle?

IS IT TRUE that cash is pouring in to the Indiana Smokefree Communities coffers faster than it poured into Barack Obama’s campaign in 2008?…that the 70% plus of Hoosiers who openly support a statewide smoking ban are treating Evansville’s pending ordinance as though it is the first battle of the civil war and are pouring cash in here at Mayoral campaign rates?…that the marketing campaigns for the 9 votes of the Evansville City Council are heating up and that this will be quite interesting to watch?

IS IT TRUE that Kitchens has announced that it will be closing its Eastland Mall Store?…that this comes on the heels of the recent announcement that Abercrombie Kids will be vacating the Eastland Store at the end of January?…that this is a strange set of events for a town that was recently pronounced by some economic development entities to have nearly wiped out all of the job losses of the recession when nearly no place else in the country has done so?…that it may be a good lesson for such entities to learn that the job creation calculator has a subtract button on it and that when 2 jobs are started and 3 are lost that the net is a loss of 1?…that the other piece of missing information is that the real metric that needs to be monitored is not the number of jobs but the amount of payroll?…that replacing a lost $20 per hour job with an $8 an hour job should not really qualify as creating a job but that seems to be the way that job counting is done?

IS IT TRUE that the State of Kentucky is on the verge of introducing legislation that would make casino gambling legal in certain locations in the state?…that the future of gambling at Ellis Park is the only real game changer in the projections for Aztar’s future with respect to how legislative action will have any effect?…that it is the Kentucky legislature that is pondering the legislation of interest for Indiana casinos and not the Indiana legislature?…that if Ellis Park were to ever become a land based casino with or without smoking that the business model of Aztar will be disrupted in ways that no one can predict with any existing study?

IS IT TRUE that yesterday was a major day for legislative action in the Indiana Statehouse with two controversial and emotionally charged bills advancing to a point of no return with respect to what will happen to them?… that HB 1006 that has attracted a record number of visitors for a single issue to the CCO website has died an early death and will not be advancing?…that the small group of licensed and credentialed professions such as hairdressers, dieticians, and private investigators can now rest assured that every out of work person in the state needing some cash flow will not be able to get some free business cards off of the internet and set up shop against people who have been held to a higher standard than a pulse and a business card?…that for these particular professions that the CCO does applaud this action but still has a bias against unnecessary government intervention into private business?…that only when it is clear and necessary to intervene to assure health standards and safety should governments intervene into private matters?…that we thank Candy Knight for sending us the letter that started the storm?…that we also commend Indiana State Representative Gail Riecken for taking a stand against this silly proposal?

IS IT TRUE that closer to home that Mole #33 tells the CCO that a new candidate is considering running for one of the at-large seats up for grabs on the Vanderburgh County Council in the November 2012 election?…that this highly respected and experienced by proxy budding candidate is none other than former Evansville First LadyTheresa Lloyd, the wife of former Mayor and County Council member Russ Lloyd Junior who is currently serving in the Winnecke Administration as Evansville’s City Controller?…that spouses of elected officials who have followed the love of their lives into office have an excellent track record?…that when the female follows the male into office their track records are nearly exemplary?…that one must look no further than our Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who followed husband Bill into government service and Mary Bono Mack who has served in the House of Representatives for California since the untimely death of her late husband Sonny Bono?…that the CCO believes that Theresa Lloyd will make an excellent candidate and a worthy opponent for whomever the Democrat Party decides to run against her?

IS IT TRUE that by a vote of 54 – 44 the controversial and impassioned “Right to Work” bill has now passed through the Indiana House of Representatives?…that this short but significant piece of legislation has already passed through the Indiana Senate and is now heading to Governor Daniels’ desk for him to sign it into law?…that this bill has been the subject of so much grandstanding and emotional appeal on both sides that it is hard to really get a straight story on what the effects will be?…that one thing that is for sure is that the economic development agencies of Indiana will so to speak get more “at bats”?…that it is a known fact that Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes Benz, Boeing, Toyota, and Hyundai have all gone to “Right to Work” states during the last 5 years and that in many cases openly stated that they would not even consider states like Indiana that do not have “Right to Work” laws?…that even a blind batter will get more hits when they swing at more balls so it is reasonable to expect job creation to increase with the passage of this bill?…that all of the businesses above are good jobs that pay a living wage and have chosen “Right to Work” states for their new manufacturing plants?…that Indiana will have a dominant position over other Midwestern states to attract good manufacturing jobs?…that the other side of the argument that wages may be attempted to be kept down also has merit and that it is also reasonable to expect that jobs that require minimal skill will not be paying a good wage in the future?…that most such minimal skill jobs already do not pay a living wage even thought Indiana has not been a “Right to Work” state so expect little change there?…that Right to Work was and is inevitable and it is better to be the leader in the Midwest for such an action than a follower that sits back on an outdated anachronism watching our neighbor states take our jobs as the Right to Work states have been doing for 30 years now?

IS IT TRUE that Mole #2.5 has it on good authority that Democrat candidate for state Senate Terry White will be jumping on the time for a change bandwagon as a major plank in his platform to dethrone Senator Vaneta Becker from her long held position?…that this year’s race for State Senator will be interesting to watch as sharp differences are expected to be drawn between the candidates?