IS IT TRUE that last night is the last time that we shall ever hear the words “Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the championship game of the Big East basketball tournament, starting at forward for the University of Louisville is KYLE KURIC of Evansville, Indiana”?…that Kyle has made the most of his career at UL playing in 3 Big East championships, winning two, and starting in the last two?…that Kyle is the kind of student athlete that makes one proud every time you see him play and hear his name called on the PA system?…that this hometown superstar as they say will be “going pro in something else” someday as his four years with Coach Rick Pitino will result in a quality education as well as a spectacular set of basketball memories?…that someday soon the words Coach Kuric may be used somewhere or who knows Dr. Kuric fits well too?…that this kid should make us all proud and the CCO wishes Kyle and the Cardinals well in the upcoming NCAA Tournament?

IS IT TRUE that the City of Evansville that just spent $127 Million on a downtown arena is struggling to figure out how to afford $100,000 per year to keep a particularly troublesome fire engine ready to respond?…that this 13 year old engine known as Quint 8 probably should be replaced at a cost of roughly $800,000 but the City only has $300,000 available?…that cities do sometimes have difficult times financially but seldom will we see such a blatant case of spending necessary funds of frivolity as the City of Evansville has during the last several years?…that whatever funds that then Mayor Weinzapfel was planning to spend on building Centennial Park down behind the old Greyhound Bus building should be enough to provide our firefighters with either a replacement for Quint 8, lease payments on a replacement, or even another round of necessary maintenance?…that the Mole Nation tells us that this cash shortfall is just the TIP OF THE ICEBERG that will be revealed over the next year or so with respect to “deferred” maintenance while the party kept on rolling?…that wherever the money to incent the construction of a downtown Convention Hotel could be accessed to keep our fire trucks road worthy?

IS IT TRUE that there seems to be nine Front Door Pride homes on the market for a combined total of just over $1.1 Million that could be discounted and sold to buy a fire truck with?…that there is a plan to convert the old safe house into 33 apartments at a cost that exceeds $240,000 per apartment?…that overspending to build Front Door Pride houses that no one wants at even half the cost to build them and planning to spend $240,000 of taxpayer money to refurb apartments for $240,000 each that could be bought in the free market for $20,000 each is enough to shock and amaze even a third grader that knows how to count change?…that if Evansville wants to have anything left for its needs then it has to stop squandering massive sums of money on things that are not needed or wanted?…that this is a good time for the Winnecke Administration to start taking a second look at the unnecessary and inflated projects that the Weinzapfel Administration put into play during its waning days?…that if you add it all up from unnecessary overpriced housing, to internet based water meter readers, to Centennial Park do not be surprised if the total planned partying exceeds $100,000,000?…that in a place that can’t afford to fix a fire truck the capital investment plan is in serious need of review?…that we may just find out that the McCurdy debacle and the Executive Inn dilemma are just a drop in the bucket when it comes to the price of Evansville’s Kardashian wedding style of partying disguised as capital improvements?

IS IT TRUE that the Oak Meadow Country Club has been sold to a new group of investors?…that the first official action of the new owners that has been made public is to change the name of the place to “The Oaks”?…that these investors must follow the example of the EVSC in thinking that a name change is the way to change things?…that the EVSC changed the perfectly good name of the Plaza Park Middle School to the Plaza Park International Prep Academy?…that the name change hasn’t really changed much other than the sign on the display board in front of the school?…that name changes are just name changes and have little effect unless the way of doing things is changed?…that while we wish the new owners of “The Oaks” well we hope they change more than the name?

IS IT TRUE that we could all vote in a name change for the McCurdy Hotel to “The Grand McCurdy” but if no work were done and no management changes were made it would still be a refuge for bats, pigeons, snakes, rats, and an occasional group of alley cats?…that we need a name for the vacant lot where the Executive Inn used to be and would welcome some suggestions?

IS IT TRUE that there is an uproar this week because the Vanderburgh County Council is electing not to fill positions vacated by departing employees?…that sometimes it is the right thing to do when someone departs a job to see if their duties can be assumed by the ones who are left?…that people are always whining about government being wasteful and having too many people on the payroll and when the County Council decides not to fill some openings they act like the sky is falling?…that maybe the is a case of rightsizing in local government?…that we all need to give this a little time to see if we miss any services before jumping on the County Council over not filling those slots immediately?

IS IT TRUE that we would like to congratulate the USI Screaming Eagles for their Great Lakes Valley Conference championship and wish them well in the upcoming NCAA Division II tournament?…that we also want to give a shout out to Evansville’s Kyle Kuric for his great career playing for Rick Pitino and the University of Louisville Cardinals?…that Kyle is having a little slump now but if he gets back to his normal superior shooting self the Cards look poised to give Syracuse a run for their money in the Big East championship and make a deep run into the NCAA Tournament?…that Kentucky is looking pretty unbeatable recently and that until the last week Syracuse was too?…that unless some team really gets hot that we may be in for a repeat of the 1996 NCAA final that saw Kentucky win the championship over Syracuse?…that the difference in the Kentucky teams of old and the ones now is that the old teams were actually made up of athletes who planned from day one to stay for four years and do their best to earn a diploma?…that this year people are dancing in the streets of Lexington because one of the super freshmen has stated that he will be back for his Sophomore year?

IS IT TRUE that every week it is looking more like Mitt Romney will be the Republican candidate for President of the United States who will be challenging our current president Barack Obama?…that this will be a most interested presidential election as President Obama most certainly has the advantages of money and style but Romney has a history of fixing broken companies?…that between now and November we will have to decide if the USA is broken to the point of needing the skills of Mr. Romney in the White House or if we will endorse 4 more years for the President?