IS IT TRUE the Leapfrog Group releases an annual report on the best hospitals in the United States?…that this year only 65 hospitals in the country were honored with the distinction of being a Leapfrog Top Hospital?…not one hospital in the entire State of Indiana was on the list?…that California hospitals dominated the list taking 21 of the 65 awards?…the closest geographic distance for someone in Evansville to travel to be in a Leapfrog Top Hospital would be to travel to the Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville, TN or The Christ Hospital of Cincinnati?…that the closest children’s hospital to make the list was Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center?…it would be just wonderful if an Evansville hospital would be the first Indiana hospital to make the Leapfrog Top Hospital list and that the City County Observer encourages the local hospitals to make that a goal?

IS IT TRUE the Evansville Parks Board did as expected yesterday and voted unanimously to demolish Roberts Stadium?…that after a number of years of assaults started on Roberts by former Mayor Weinzapfel to prepare the stadium for being declared beyond repair that the prophesy hatched by the Weinzapfel Administration will finally be carried out by the Winnecke Administration?…that as much as there were lots of ideas that were put forward to use Roberts Stadium for, not one thin dime was offered up from the private investment community to utilize the stadium for a profit seeking opportunity?…that the only thing the Winnecke Administration could have done would have been to put up a for sale sign or hold a public auction to collect some small pittance and place it back on the tax rolls?…that after Roberts has met its demise at the hands of local government the best action to take is to sell the 37 acres and use the funds to establish a savings account to repair the sewers which are under EPA order?…that spending $8 Million on a park at a time that the parks are maintained on a third world level is just nuts?…that maybe Roberts had to go but there is no reason and no justification for dropping $8 Million on a park that probably won’t even be mowed on a regular basis?…that 2,300 acres for taking drugs, having sex, and drinking booze is enough for any town?…if Evansville wants to really get some cash then the City should auction off about 1,000 acres of parks so they can actually have a prayer of doing sufficient maintenance on what we have?

IS IT TRUE that on a national level the President of the United States has asserted executive privilege to keep the United States Congress from getting its hands on the documentation about the gun running operation that the Justice Department carried out in Mexico?…that this is a curious position for President Obama to take since no one really disputed Attorney General Holder’s sworn testimony that the White House did not know about or participate in gun running?…the natural thing to think is that the White House or even the President may have their fingerprints on this after all or the executive privilege is meaningless?…that if Attorney General Holder was holding back and President Obama was not involved then the course of action that starts with a charge of Contempt of Congress against Attorney General Holder should have been allowed to run its course?…that this will have some negative effect on the re-election campaign of President Obama whether he was in on it or not?…that some things are pretty mystifying?

IS IT TRUE that the Federal Reserve issued a report yesterday that basically puts the American people on notice that high unemployment will continue through the end of 2014 and that economic growth will be much lower that was projected even in April?…that the Great Recession seems to be dragging into what history may look back on and deem to have been a 2nd Great Depression?…that the traditional bag of tricks to stimulate the economy have just not done the trick and that some serious change to the change is needed?

IS IT TRUE Councilman Friend tells the City County Observer that he has received a reply from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) responding to his request concerning the question, “Is interest during construction considered part of the total cost of governmental projects”?… that the hard cost of the Johnson Control contract is approximately $52 Million, but, the cost of interest during construction and cost of bond issuance, etc. is over $4 Million, driving the total project cost to approximately $57 million?… the total financing is based on $57 million dollars and this is the information that was presented to the AICPA?…that Councilman Friend was informed that according to GASB 62,( Governmental Accounting Standards Board) Interest During Construction (IDC) is REQUIRED to be capitalized into the total cost of the project?…if the IDC is in the total financing package, how, then, could it be considered as SAVINGS?…based on Umbaugh’s logic, the Ford Center should have cost only $95 million, not, as reported $127.5 million?.. If the cost is $127.5 Million, then the capitalized interest must be a savings?…this must be the era of new math in Evansville when it comes to capital expenditures by the City of Evansville?

IS IT TRUE the Welborn Health Plans which have been a mainstay for health insurance purchasers in SW Indiana and Kentucky have decided to get out of the business?…come December 30th of this year that this opportunity to purchase health insurance will cease to exist?…the CEO of the Welborn Health Plans has attributed the decision to get out of the business to ObamaCare and “what is going on in Washington”?…that this is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to small insurers getting out of the business because of the way this plan makes competing in these markets for the “little guys” distasteful and nearly impossible to do so in a way that is prosperous?

IS IT TRUE that it has now been a full 4 years (1,460 days) since then Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel stood smiling for the cameras to announce that a 4 Star hotel would be built in downtown Evansville IF and only IF the City of Evansville built a new arena?…that after 3 different deals have fallen apart and an arena is nearing its first year of operation that the new Evansville Redevelopment Commission is once again going to the well to solicit bids to construct a new downtown Convention Hotel?…this would be funny if it were not true but here we go again?…that if all goes to perfection and a developer that meets the ERC criteria of actually having done this before is found that sometime in 2015 downtown Evansville may have a new 2 or 3 star hotel that is heavily subsidized by public money?…that this is all being put forward at a time when any fool can go onto Loopnet and find 200 – 300 room hotels in better locations for less than $40,000 per room?…that the difference in the estimated cost to build of $125,000 per room and the market value of $40,000 per room will have to be borne by the people of Evansville for a deal to be struck with an intelligent developer?…that to make this happen we had all better get ready for an incentive package of between $20 Million and $24 Million just like Fort Wayne had to put out to get White Lodging to the table?

IS IT TRUE that there is a perfectly good alternative to this 5 blocks west at the McCurdy Hotel?…that a completely refurbished McCurdy would be unique, a tourist draw, and would take less incentives to be realized than a new hotel at the Rock Pile would?…that this idea has been floated to Mayor Winnecke by a business that can make it happen and this person did not even get the courtesy of a returned phone call?…the restoration of the McCurdy is a sane endeavor that may just result in profits and private investment and that the downtown Convention Hotel that the RFP will be soliciting is simply another Weinzapfel era boondoggle designed to give Evansville taxpayer money to outside interests destined to become campaign donors in the future?

IS IT TRUE PART 2 June 19, 2012 “Township Meltdown Raises its Ugly Head”

IS IT TRUEGerman Township Trustee Fred Happe wrote a check in the amount of $104,000 in January-2012 to the German Township Fire Department?… the check was not honored by the bank due to insufficient funds being on deposit?…that Trustee Happe later wrote another check to them for around $80,000 and they were able to cash it?… the reduced payment of $80,000 made to the German Township Fire Department by Trustee Happe caused German Township Fire Department a financial shortfall of about $24,000 for 2012?

IS IT TRUE the 2008-2009 State Board of Accounts Audit found a considerable number of posting errors that included checks and receipts not recorded in proper categories?…when the State Audit findings were reviewed by Trustee Happe he concurred with the findings of the State Board of Accounts?

IS IT TRUE the German Township Fire Department volunteers do an outstanding job to protect the property and lives of the citizens they serve?…that this fire department also has an outstanding Board of Directors?…that over the last 5 years that Trustee Happe has cut the German Township Fire Department budget over $100,000?…the City County Observer believes that the public should receive a detailed explanation explaining why over $100,000 was removed from the German Township Fire Department budget by Trustee Happe?

IS IT TRUE the CCO believes that it’s time the Vanderburgh County Commissioners should begin an official investigation in order to see if the German Township Trustee’s office is having serious financial problems?…that this probe should be spearheaded by County Commissioner, Steve Melcher since the German Township Fire Department is located in his political district?

IS IT TRUE the United States Supreme Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of the healthcare law widely referred to as Obamacare that was passed a couple of years ago along party lines?…the drug companies and the American Medical Association had quite allot of influence in the writing of this law and thus the savings that were promised have not been realized and projections for premiums and healthcare itself are now expected to rise even more?…there was a series of op-ed pieces in yesterday’s New York Times by a wide variety of authors from the practical liberal professor and former member of President Clinton’s cabinet Robert Reich through some fairly right wing authors?…that the New York Times being what it is there were more opinions from liberal authors than conservative ones but both points of view were represented?

IS IT TRUE the authors all expect to minimally see the mandate to force the purchase of health insurance to be struck down as unconstitutional?…that a clear majority expect the entire law to be struck down because there is no severability clause anywhere in it?…maybe if the congress would have actually read the bill or hired someone smart enough to understand it to read it for them that a severability clause would have been inserted and the country would not be faced with an “all or nothing” situation?…the drug companies and the AMA will be the ones having a stroke if the purchase mandate is struck down but the rest is allowed to stand because the purchase mandate was the means to pay for things like pre-existing conditions and 26 year olds staying on the parents plan?…the bull being tossed about regarding the 21 – 26 year olds is fairly false on the part of the insurance companies because the premiums for these young adults are currently paid by their parents?…this writer knows this because the premium for the two young adult daughters is about $600 per month and is paid by this writer?…this is much higher than it was before they turned 21?

IS IT TRUE it is disturbing to see that such a wide and impactful piece of legislation could make its way through the United States Congress without sufficient constitutional review?…this is what we get as a people when we do not even demand that our elected officials read the bills before they pass them?…in the case of most procedures that the United States already has universal health care?…that between Medicaid, Medicare, the Veterans Administration, and public health departments that many millions of people are already outside of the realm of private insurance and healthcare?…that of course going to these places for healthcare is not like going to the Ritz Carleton to get stitches or give birth but for the most part the care is equivalent?…that flu shots are a perfect example of a distribution system that is both public and private and are affordable to everyone?…that such routine things like that if we can’t get over needing to be treated like Princes and Princesses is the only way we will ever be able to afford universal health care?

IS IT TRUE that upholding the Constitution of the United States is more important than preserving a law that is now seen as flawed to the point of needing massive overhaul?…that the CCO encourages the Supreme Court to rule on the basis of constitutionality and to render opinions that the American people can understand and accept?…that in nearly every case that the health of each person is significantly impacted by their own lifestyle and that wellness programs, diet, and exercise are the keys to affordable healthcare for all but those that are impacted by actions outside of their control or by the dice of nature?…that we already have programs that can be adapted to provide care to those people should the law be struck down?