IS IT TRUE that there was a time and it was not very long ago that the City of Evansville was asserting that the Johnson Controls contract was legal and binding and that nothing could be done to change a word of it?…we assume that this assertion was made on the advice of City Attorney Ted Ziemer who was also the author of the Earthcare Energy loan package for $200,000 that the people of Evansville are still on the hook for?…that with the IURC stepping in and forbidding the City from going into debt to pay for the Johnson Controls deal that the negotiating away of lots of parts of that ironclad contract seems to finally be the rule of the day?…the WIFI part is now gone and that two of our Civic Center Moles are telling us that the residential water meters are being taken out as well?…it was a single cherry picked bad meter used as real data that contributed to the IURC decision to forbid the deal based on flimsy research when it comes to saving the City money?…this is what happens when things get jammed through at the last minute by a lame duck administration or jammed through by a new Mayor without so much as even discussing worst case scenarios?…we hope that whatever comes out of this is done right, vetted right, and really saves the people of Evansville money because the way things happen in these parts they are going to need it?

IS IT TRUE that yesterday afternoon gas prices around Evansville magically increased by over 20 cents per gallon?…that Evansville, Indiana is the 17th most expensive reported gas on gasbuddy.com outside the State of California that has a 25 cent per gallon charge for pollution control additives?…that means that 150 places across this great nation are selling gasoline at a better price than it is being sold in Evansville?…we will reiterate our statement from the other day that with the gouging at the pump, Vectren’s near national high electric rates, and the coming $100+ per month water and sewer bills that Evansville will be a contender for the distinction of the highest price place in the country to live based on the number of hours of work required to purchase the basic services of life?

IS IT TRUE that the County Commissioners unanimously voted to cut the budget of the Human Rights Commission by 20%?…it is about time that the Commissioners actually followed through on a budget cut that they had ruffled their feathers about instead of folding their cards and giving in as they have on several other issues?…that if the public statement by Commissioner Joe Kiefer regarding the arrogance of the Executive Director toward the Commissioners is true they should have cut every dime of Vanderburgh County taxpayer money out of that budget?

IS IT TRUE the former North High School is now the home of the “Academy for Innovative Studies” as it has been christened by the EVSC?…that there are reportedly about 200 students in the old NHS that routinely handled over 1,500 students before the name was changed to an “Academy”?…that some students that behave in such a disruptive manner that they are expelled from the general population of students have always been sent to a different school but the name of that school has not been any stream of words with the term “Academy” in it?…an “Academy” has always been associated with excellence in learning and as a place where the best students are grouped together as a reward and to be able to work on a higher level?…that one can call REFORM SCHOOL and “Academy” if one wishes to corrupt the very invention of the word but it is still REFORM SCHOOL?…between this instance of calling a warthog a prize heifer and the other instances of trying to name away failing schools that has been rubber stamped by the Vanderburgh County School Board, we think it is time to expel the entire school board and elect 7 completely new people as the stewards of our public education system have become delusional?…that we now have a building for 1,500 that is occupied by a group of only 200 that will make the remaining 80%+ of the old NHS undesirable for other potential tenants or buyers?

IS IT TRUE the City County Observer would like to defend the Democrat Convention Party with regard to the omission of the word God from its official plank?…that the United States Constitution does not mention the name of God at all?…there is a veiled reference to a creator in the preamble?…that the monarchies of Europe of course all did mention God as the source of the dominion of kings over lesser men like serfs and the nobles?…based on this the Founding Fathers of the United States intentionally gave the authority from which power is granted as the people as opposed to God?…it was not until July 30, 1956 that Congress actually adopted the familiar term “In God We Trust” for our paper currency?…that prior to that date “In God We Trust” was on some coins at the discretion of the national mint but that only started officially after the Civil War?…that for those of you who are all about the Founding Fathers and the Constitution the Democrats got this one right?

IS IT TRUE that former Governor Joe Kernan issued the following statement to the people of Evansville and Vanderburgh County regarding consolidation:
“”The citizens of Evansville and Vanderburgh County should be very proud of the great work that has been done to create a unified local government plan for the greater good of the community.

“Your local government will be less redundant, better organized, more efficient, less expensive for all taxpayers, and very importantly more transparent and easier for everyone to understand.

“Congratulations on moving this process along as far as you have. Now just push it across the line in November.

IS IT TRUE that upon learning of this statement opponents of consolidation took Governor Kernan to task on this competence regarding this issue?…coming from South Bend and finding his way into the Governor’s office by virtue of the death of Governor O’Bannon do not allegedly give Governor Kernan and experience at all in governing a consolidated city-county?

IS IT TRUE that gasoline was reported this morning to have set a record for high prices nationwide for the Labor Day weekend?…that gasbuddy.com reports today that the average price of a gallon of gas in the United States is $3.80 per gallon which is indeed the highest ever for a Labor Day weekend but not the highest ever but it is close?…that El Paso gets the award for the most affordable gas at $3.43 but that our friends in Chicago get the award for getting hosed the worse paying an average of $4.33?…that here in Evansville we are still paying above average prices at $3.87?…paying above average prices may be worth it if we were not getting clubbed with excessive prices for electricity too?…what would really ease the pain of high energy costs would be some higher wages?…that as long as our local schools continue to see ISTEP scores fall that it is going to be difficult to attract better paying jobs to this region?

IS IT TRUE that the embattled President Obama has hauled out the Alpha President Bill Clinton to take to the television to ask American voters for 4 more years for the incumbent who has had a very fiery past with President Clinton?…that President Clinton has accused then candidate Obama of pulling the race card on his wife’s campaign in 2008 and recently referred to the business career of Republican candidate Mitt Romney as “STERLING”?…President Clinton reminisces in the commercial about how great the economy was during his administration and how four more years for President Obama is just the cure for the stubborn malaise of an economy we have now?…that President Clinton must have forgotten a few things about his years in the White House if he is confusing 2012 with his second term?…President Clinton’s time in office was economically a very good time for America and was from a policy perspective more like the times of President Reagan than President Obama?…the wheels did fall off of the stock market bus at the end of the Clinton presidency just like the wheels fell off of the housing bus at the end of the Bush presidency?

IS IT TRUE the Obama campaign was out in full force this weekend asserting that in spite of high unemployment, falling wages, doubled gas prices, skyrocketing energy prices, and over a 20% rise in the price of necessities like food that we are all better off than we were four years ago?…that politics surely does make strange bedfellows and even stranger rationalizations?…that even for staunch democrats to hear words like “we really are better off now than four years ago” not only counters President Obama’s own words but has about the same believability factor as claiming that a head of lettuce is a filet mignon?…as one of our favorite songs states, “we won’t get fooled again” may become the anthem for this presidential campaign?…that applies to lies and distortions coming from both campaigns?