¬¬TUESDAY, AUGUST 16, 2011 AT 12:00 P.M.
ROOM 307
CIVIC CENTER COMPLEX
ONE N.W. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. BOULEVARD
EVANSVILLE, INDIANA
The Board of Directors of The Evansville Local Public Improvement Bond Bank will meet to conduct such business as may properly come before it on August 16, 2011 at 12:00 p.m. in Room 307 of the Civic Center Complex, One N.W. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, Evansville, Indiana.
For further information, contact Jenny Collins, Executive Director, The Evansville Local Public Improvement Bond Bank, 300 Civic Center Complex, One N.W. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, Evansville, Indiana 47708-1833; Telephone: (812) 436-4919.
Trafficestimate.com pure visits places CCO ahead of 14wfie.com for first time
The tabulations for monthly internet traffic published through August 6th by Trafficestimate.com have propelled the City County Observer past the Indianapolis Star and the Louisville Courier Journal for time online when Alexa.com’s one month time online per visitor is combined with it to form a product indicating pure time online.
The City County Observer leads these media sites with a product of 10.4 Million, followed by Indystar.com with 7.7 Million, the Louisville Courier Journal with 3.6 Million, and the Evansville Courier Press with a respectable 3.2 Million.
Alexa.com’s one month trailing time per visitor ranks that City County Observer at an eye popping 77.59 minutes with the Evansville Courier Press at 6.50 minutes, the Louisville Courier Journal at 3.62 minutes per visitor, and the the Indianapolis Star’s Indystar.com site captivating its visitors for 4.22 minutes each.
Trafficestimate.com reports that the City County Observer now is attracting visits at a rate of 133,700 per month while the Courier Press, the Courier Journal, and the Indianapolis Star websites come in at 494,000, 985,200, an 1,827,700 respectively.
IS IT TRUE that a Facebook post on the site called “Evansville Community Tennis Association†is gleefully stating that the materials to start building the indoor tennis courts at Wesselman Park have been ordered?…that there is some level of complication and even controversy about whether or not their contract to build anything has been breached?…that there are other details like submitting a design for approval, getting permits, getting the approval of the appropriated government bodies, etc. that should certainly be completed and verified before any materials were ordered?…that if the ECTA is delusional enough to order materials before getting written permission and permits to proceed then that tells us something?…that the post is as follows:
“I received some very good news this evening from two (2) highly reliable sources…the materials for the indoor tennis facility at Wesselman Tennis Center have been ordered!!!! Sounds like the countdown to indoor tennis by ECTA has begun!!!! WAY TO GO, ECTA BOARD and all the other non-board members who’ve devoted much time/energy and more to making this dream a reality! On behalf of our entire tennis community, THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR HARD WORK and DILIGENCE!!!â€
IS IT TRUE that the Evansville IceMen finally have a deal that they are pleased with that officially makes them the hockey team in the new Evansville Arena?…that the deal reflects much confidence on the part of Ron Geary and the IceMen that hockey will be a major attractor of fans in the new Arena?…that the deal is more complicated and a bit more risky than what the simple two sentence plan that the City County Observer had suggested?…that when it comes to private enterprise and negotiations that what we really wanted to see is a deal that Ron Geary and the Evansville IceMen are enthusiastic about?…that we plan on attending some games ourselves and encourage the people of Evansville to come out and support our hockey team?…that if Ron Geary is happy with the deal then the CCO is happy with the deal?…that we are even going to get out or our normal mode and offer congratulations and thanks to the Evansville Redevelopment Commission for intervening and accelerating the signing of a deal that the IceMen see as a partnership with the City of Evansville?…that we say THUMBS UP to the Evansville IceMen and the ERC?
IS IT TRUE that we are relieved and feeling safer already since we now know that both candidates for Mayor of Evansville opposed meth labs?…that at least 80% of the decisions that government makes are decisions that can be made by a rational mind and that opposing the manufacturing of meth is rational position?…that opposing meth making is not policy and that we encourage both candidates to get on board with Evansville City Councilman Dan McGinn in his crusade to disrupt the material supply chain of the key ingredient in the meth making process?…that over the counter products that contain pseudoephedrine should be prescription based
IS IT TRUE that with all of the drugs that are near the expiration date for their patents that some American drug companies like Pfizer and Merck should seize the opportunity to obsolete pseudoephedrine based medicines altogether with a new patentable formulation?…that maybe something in the Federal Lab Consortium patent portfolio would be applicable to such an effort?…that GAGE has a tech transfer agreement that enables them to make the FLC patent portfolio available to businesses within a 28 county area around Evansville?…that to do that they need the technical talent available to read and understand patents and to recognize the not yet identified potential of local businesses?…that politics and self limiting policies are keeping them from even considering such things?
August 12, 2011
For Immediate Release: Response to Rick Davis’ Proposed Meth Solutions
Members of the Media:
I am encouraged that Rick is following our lead on this issue, but his announcement today charts an uncertain course for the city. He rightfully suggests working closely with our local legislators on methamphetamine issues at the Statehouse. However, I firmly believe this is an issue for law enforcement, and while well-intended, the idea that voluntary enforcement can discourage criminals who are already enterprising enough to circumvent current state law is highly dubious. Further regulation is only part of the answer. We must start by educating our youth, schools, and the community at large to the destructive power of meth. We must also focus on giving our police and fire departments the tools they need to tackle the problem and relentlessly pursue the people perpetrating this menace in our neighborhoods.
Rick Davis Davis Announces Plan at Home Blown Up by Meth Explosion
Evansville mayoral candidate Rick Davis has asked local pharmacies to begin voluntarily requiring a doctor’s prescription in order for local consumers to buy cold and allergy medications that are also used for making meth.
“I have spoken to several neighborhood associations during this campaign and I also held 8 Town Hall meetings this year, and I have been continually told what a plague meth labs and meth use are in our community,†said Davis, 42, the current Vanderburgh County Treasurer. “Meth labs are a danger to our public safety officials; they are a danger to unsuspecting neighbors; and they are a danger to innocent children who are growing up surrounded by dangerous, toxic chemicals being brewed in their homes.â€
Our community is also paying a heavy toll from other costs associated with meth labs, including taxpayers paying for crime-scene cleanups/hazardous waste disposal; meth-lab explosions that are a danger to unsuspecting neighbors and their property; drug treatment/burn patient treatment; foster care/counseling services for children of parents who are addicted to and/or dealing meth.
Already this year, law enforcement officials in Vanderburgh County have seized about 75 meth labs. The Federal government formerly budgeted about $480,000 per year to help our state’s local governing units clean up these hazardous, toxic and highly volatile meth labs. But due to budget cuts, that funding was stopped in February 2011, putting the cost of cleanup on the backs of local taxpayers.
Yet one fact remains: Meth cannot be made without pill tablets containing pseudoephedrine. Davis said it’s time to clamp down on the key ingredient and make it harder for illicit drug dealers to manufacture their product locally.
“We have to make a stand, and we need to make it now,†said Davis. “If I am fortunate enough to be Evansville’s next mayor, I plan on traveling to Indianapolis and testifying to our state representatives regarding the need to make over-the-counter medications containing methamphetamine precursors a prescription drug in Indiana. However, we cannot wait until 2012, when the state legislature convenes. We need immediate action and we need to be proactive.
Indiana State Rep. Gail Riecken joined Davis in calling for the prescription requirement to purchase pseudoephedrine products. She said she will help take a lead in the 2012 legislative session in an attempt to make the prescription requirement a state law.
Every day that goes before our state legislature can meet to decide whether or not to require a prescription to purchase these drugs means the threat of rolling meth labs being driven around our neighborhood streets, not to mention children going to bed with highly-volatile explosives in their homes,†said Davis. “On behalf of our public health and welfare, I beg local pharmacies to start requiring a doctor’s prescription in order to purchase these drugs.â€
If the state legislature does not act favorably, Davis said he would propose to the City Council members that they create an ordinance requiring a prescription in order to purchase pill tablet products containing pseudoephedrine.
Current state law now requires identification in order to purchase over-the-counter allergy drugs such as Sudafed.
Indiana law restricts the amount of ephedrine or pseudoephedrine purchases to 3.0 grams in a 7-day period.
“Locally, this law just doesn’t matter – not when someone can easily drive to Kentucky or Illinois within a half hour to 45 minutes,†said Davis. “People are driving to nearby states like Kentucky and Illinois to avoid this law, or they’re paying people to buy these drugs for them. Requiring a prescription will make it harder for these drugs to be made locally.â€
Davis said the request does not include pseudoephedrine products in liquid or gel cap form, because meth cookers do not use those products to make the dangerous drug. “So consumers may still purchase Sudafed, just in a different form. And there are scores of other allergy medicines that consumers may purchase to help ease their symptoms.â€
According to a 2009 Rand Corporation Study, society’s cost of meth is between $16 million and $48 million.
Requiring a prescription for pseudoephedrine products has been an overwhelming success in the state of Oregon.
The number of meth labs dropped from 192 in 2005 to 10 in 2010, a 95% decrease in meth lab seizures for an entire state!
Other Indiana communities, including Terre Haute and Vincennes, have also asked that local pharmacies require a prescription in order to purchase pseudoephedrine products.
Eradicating these drugs, which were originally prescription-only until 1976, in our community is also bound to help drop property crime rates in the city, said Davis, who noted that the essential goal is to reduce explosions, toxic waste, injuries and death from meth-related crimes.
IS IT TRUE that a case of rape is being investigated by the Evansville Police Department?…that this alleged crime has been reported to have taken place in the 800 block of Southeast 2nd Street?…that it has furthermore been reported in the neighborhood that access to the victim was made by climbing to the 2nd floor and forcing entry through a window?…that this crime has the neighborhood association of the Historic District on high alert making sure that all of the residents of this unique and valuable area of Evansville are aware and on the lookout for the perpetrator?…that anyone who has any information that may lead to the arrest of a suspect should call (812) 435-6072?
IS IT TRUE that the census tract immediately to the south of the Arena that includes the forthcoming downtown convention hotel has the worst violent crime rating of any census tract in all of Vanderburgh County?…that the rating for this census tract is 3 on a scale of 100 meaning that 97% of all census tracts in America have better rates of violent crime?…that if there is not a targeted effort to improve that ranking that fear of the Arena will continue?…that to really make the downtown a destination that it not only needs to have at least a 50 ranking on violent crime but that the perception of safety at all times needs to be pervasive?…that statistics do not lie, that this 3 ranking is what it is, and that this is something that needs to be dramatically improved?
IS IT TRUE that Mole #40 tells us that the Evansville IceMen along with their owner Ron Geary were in a celebratory mood last night on the upper level of the Maingate bar just across from the new Arena?…that there were some well dressed gentlemen making a presentation to the IceMen and their families?…that Mole #40 was not close enough to see the presentation but that the IceMen and Mr. Geary seemed to be pleased?…that a positive demeanor from the IceMen and Mr. Geary may just be a good sign with respect to the discussions that have drug on with the City of Evansville’s legendary negotiating team?…that maybe today we will be treated to a deal that will assure the people of Evansville that there will actually be hockey in their hockey Arena this year after all?…the we along with many others have our fingers crossed?
IS IT TRUE that the City County Observer would like to seek permission from both Prime Lodging LLC or Verville Construction and the Kunkel Group to publish their current Dun and Bradstreet reports?…that according to Dun and Bradstreet their reports include things like “Likelihood this company will experience financial stress in the next 12 monthsâ€, “Likelihood this company will not pay on time over the next 12 monthsâ€, “Timeliness of historical payments for this companyâ€, “Payment performance trend over the past 90 daysâ€, and any public findings with respect to pending legal issues?…that this is the kind of information that has been available all along and should have been accessed and utilized by the Evansville Redevelopment Commission as a sort of pre-vetting condition?…that we will not be publishing any D&B report on any business without prior written permission to do so from a corporate officer?
