IS IT TRUE? February 23, 2012

IS IT TRUE that one of the biggest problems that is being discussed in statehouses all over America, in principal’s conferences, in superintendent’s retreats and of course by parents in living rooms is the subject of SCHOOL BULLYING?…that rules of conduct for students, schools, and teachers at all levels of education are being written?…bullying, fighting, and intimidation of any sort cannot be tolerated by our society and certainly should not be promoted at schools?…that the dying art of being ladies and gentlemen should be taught to students at all ages, and the earlier the better?

IS IT TRUE that none of this is news to the local school systems on both sides of the Ohio River who promoted a day of “playing hooky” so that 5,000 elementary students could take in a hockey game during time that should be reserved for learning?…that we are certain that body checking, slashing, elbowing, and fist fighting was cheered on at the Ford Center yesterday by our future generation much like the people of Rome cheering for Caesar to give the “thumbs up or thumbs down” symbol so that the lions could eat?…that the lapse of judgment was even allowed to be played out in Ford Center on Ash Wednesday when many local children exercise their religious freedom and follow the tradition of Catholicism that reminds the faithful of their own mortality and encourages repentance?

IS IT TRUE that the CCO is wondering if when these gets make their way to middle school if their respective school corporations will be taking them to a WWF event to glorify even more violence?…that as simple as it seems in a society that is desperately trying to regain gentility that promoting violence of any kind at school desensitizes our children to bullying?…that we hope that there is a fight count from last week and another from this week taken at the participating schools?…that life imitates entertainment and that we suspect that life in these schools will be imitating hockey for the next couple of days?…that Rome fell under the weight of its own self indulgence and that many parallels exist between what is happening now and what happened then?…that wrestling is held at a place in Evansville known as “The Coliseum”?…that sort of says it all?

IS IT TRUE that the number of members of the inner circle of the Weinzapfel Administration who have been appointed to inner circle positions in the Winnecke Administration has some of our readers heads spinning?…that one could conclude that there must have been a high level of comfort with what the previous administration was doing and who was doing it for this to be happening?…that on the other side of that coin it is also possible that these are highly qualified people who were really the best choices that Mayor Winnecke could have made?…that the CCO crosses our fingers that the things of the past that are good continue but that some of the closed door activities of the past stay in the past?…that maybe some of these people had a “Dorothy threw a pail of water” moment?

IS IT TRUE that the Evansville Redevelopment Commission voted in favor Wednesday morning to spend another $40,000 to learn what should have been learned at the beginning of the previous administration?…that this $40,000 is going to Evansville’s new daddy, Chicago’s Hunden Strategic Partners to conduct a feasibility analysis on a Downtown convention hotel project?…that sounds so absurd that we have to say it again “the new ERC is going to spend $40,000 to see if doing what the previous ERC recommended spending $8 Million public dollars to do IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO”?…that the chickens of insanity must be coming home to roost somewhere in the City of Evansville tonight?

IS IT TRUE that the 5-member commission voted 3 to 2, with City Council appointees Stan Wheeler and Jay Carter voting NO and the three Mayor Lloyd Winnecke appointees Ed Hafer, Randall K. Alsman and Sara L. Miller voting YES?…that Hunden Strategic Partners states that the study should take roughly two months?…that in two months if all goes according to plan that Hunden will be $40,000 richer, the City of Evansville will be $40,000 poorer and maybe we will all know if the $33 million, 220-room hotel that has been an albatross around the City and the ERC for nearly 4 years is the right thing to do?…that the last time Hunden was hired it was publically advertised that they would be VETTING two proposals but what really went on was that little realy VETTING went on at all and a blessing of financial feasibility was granted to one of the proposals?…that we hope that this time that Hunden has been hired to do the job that the public has been told about instead of to gin up a validation document for someones wet dream?

IS IT TRUE that this should have been done in 2007 when all of the smiles and self congratualatory parties were being thrown?…that there is even a possibility that both the bidders in the last round of RFP’s will throw their hands up in disgust and get on with doing business in a downtown where the convention hotel is someone elses problem?…that both of the local bidders did spend considerable time and money on this ill concieved goose chase and that there should be some consolation prize to both the Kunkel Group and Prime Lodging for putting forth an effort?

IS IT TRUE? February 22, 2012 “Vintage Buildings Dying a Slow Death”

IS IT TRUE that the Alhambra Theatre has stood as a monument to the ineptness of local government for over 50 years now?…that grants to do insignificant little jobs at New York City prices have not stopped the decline?…that board of directors after board of directors of well meaning but unfunded and incapable people have not stopped the decline?…that executive director after executive director has not stopped the decline?…that self congratulatory parties where wines, cheeses, and champagne have toasted the latest overpriced government handout have not stopped the decline?…that FRONT DOOR PRIDE has not stopped the decline?…that forming an Art’s District has not stopped the decline?…that offering to give away a beautiful older home in need of much work has not stopped the decline?…that the micro-efforts of local, state, and even federal (as in earmarks) have not stopped the decline?…that unless the right people under the right leader with the vision, the discipline to add some details to the vision, the management talent to make it happen, and the money to execute that vision come along the decline will continue unabated?

IS IT TRUE that the 50+ year decline of the Alhambra has in a very real way symbolized the City of Evansville for five decades?…that both the City of Evansville and the Alhambra Theatre have so much potential, so little performance, and are clinging to the past like an aging dancer whose body is broken and whose will to exist continues being tested?…

IS IT TRUE that the solution was always there in plain sight?…that the solution was and is called private investment for a worthy endeavor?…that he Alhambra Theatre like Roberts Stadium has many suitors with untested ideas but no one willing to pony up the investment dollars to bring life to the suitors dreams?…that the failure of the Evansville region to establish formal investment entities has not only strangled the entrepreneurial aspirations of many of our best young people, but has delivered the death blow to many aging but useful and even potentially prosperous venues?

IS IT TRUE that Evansville has seen many vintage properties fall into disrepair to the point that demolition was the only feasible answer?…that the list is long and many of these deaths were premature or unnecessary?…that the list of the dying before our eyes includes the Alhambra Theatre, the McCurdy Hotel, and scores of Victorian residences?…that perhaps with all of the new people in leadership positions that 2012 will be the year that pride comes alive in the City of Evansville?…that pride starts with each person cleaning their own front yard and resolving to never ever litter again?

IS IT TRUE that we invite our readers to make comments about their favorite venues that are among the dead and dying structures in town?…that we also invite success stories like the Victory Theatre that is once again showing its age after an expensive restoration back in the 90’s?

IS IT TRUE? February 22, 2012

IS IT TRUE that Keep Evansville Beautiful has struck gold in its choice to succeed Ann Ennis as its president and CEO?…that it has just been announced that former County Commissioner, Assessor, and State Commissioner of Local Government Finance Cheryl Musgrave has agreed to assume the role?…that of all of the interested people that Musgrave has both the temperament and determination to accelerate the efforts that Ms. Ennis started?…that Musgrave is not one to suffer fools or laziness and that “butts” will be kicked to assure that Evansville not only keeps things beautiful but gets a lot more places to the point of beauty?…that the CCO congratulates the board of directors of KEB and Cheryl Musgrave on what we think will be a serious time of cleanliness going forward?

IS IT TRUE that sometimes decisions and actions taken in all towns make one shake their head in disbelief?…that the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation is taking the cake with its decision to send roughly 80 buses full of elementary school children to a hockey game at the Ford Center during a school day?…that hockey is a game and that the taxpayers of Indiana do not pay taxes for public education so that elementary school kids can be taken to hockey games during the school day?…that we wonder just what there is about hockey, basketball, or any other spectator sport that has enough educational content to justify spending public money for kids to attend or even letting them off of school to attend a darn game?…that this decision comes from the same school corporation that once made a decision that a family trip to the Smithsonian was not an excused absence?…that if one wants to know why our school’s performance is at the D or F level but that the EVSC thinks it is a solid A or B, then one should look no further than this imbecilic decision?…that for the kids that can’t afford the $5 admission that a “scholarship” is being offered?…that to call a free hockey ticket a scholarship is an insult to every real scholarship that is out there?…that we wonder what real scholarship fund these free ticket scholarships are being paid for from?

IS IT TRUE that right here in Evansville, the obesity capital of America that the scholarship hockey watchers will also be fed a hot dog, a coke, and a bag of popcorn?…that we have not heard of such a non-nutritious lunch offered by a school since some idiot in Washington DC deemed a smear of ketchup to constitute a serving of a vegetable?…that this is one case where these kids would be better off being “left behind” at school as opposed to cramming for a test in body checking, fist fighting, and broken teeth?…that the parents need to send the EVSC to the woodshed over this destructive silliness that undermines the educational process?

IS IT TRUE that a couple of well-intended City Council members are now questioning Evansville Police Chief Billy Bolin’s new policy that allows officers to take their cruisers home at the end of their shift?…that the CCO maintains the stance that Chief Bolin’s decision was a solid move towards good public policy?…that a little extra gas money is worth it when your house does not get burglarized because the would-be thief noticed a police car parked down the street?…that in a January poll regarding this very subject our readers overwhelming voted in favor of the policy change by a margin of 51%?

IS IT TRUE that there are some very influential political minds in the Vanderburgh County Republican Party that would like to see Party Chairman Wayne Parke personally recruit Mr. Bob Whitehouse as a candidate for the third Vanderburgh County Council At-Large seat?